Rural domestic abusers being protected by countryside culture

Rural women enduring domestic abuse are half as likely as urban victims to report their suffering and are being failed by authorities with perpetrators shielded by countryside culture, a report says.

Abusers are protected by the isolation of the countryside and traditional patriarchal attitudes, says the report from the National Rural Crime Network. It is the first study of its kind and finds that close-knit rural communities can facilitate abuse which can last, on average, 25% longer than in urban areas.

Some abusers move their partners from urban areas, where detection is more likely, to rural areas.

The report, published on Wednesday, says: “Rurality and isolation are used as a weapon by abusers. Financial control, removal from friends, isolation from family are all well-understood tools of abuse.”

It continues: “We have revealed a traditional society where women (and it is mostly women) are subjugated, abused and controlled, not just by an individual abuser, but de facto by very the communities in which they live, too often left unsupported and unprotected. This is not at all unique to rural areas, but it is very significant, and change is slow.”

Abusers exploiting isolation is a common theme in the report. One woman said: “My partner used to deliberately drive off to work with the kids’ car seats in his car, which meant I could not go anywhere safely because I was stuck in the cottage with the kids … it was just another way he isolated me and kept me from interacting with anyone else.”

The National Rural Crime Network is funded largely by police forces and their police and crime commissioners, to improve public safety in rural areas.

The report says that traditional, patriarchal communities control and subjugate women. “Rural communities are still dominated by men and follow a set of age-old, protected and unwritten principles.

“Men tend to hold the rural positions of power – head of the household, landowner, landlord, policeman, farmer. This patriarchal society makes women more vulnerable to coercion and control, prevented from speaking out and accessing support.”

Some cases have led to murder, such as that of Lance Hart, 57, who shot dead his wife Claire, 50, and daughter Charlotte, 19, in Spalding, Lincolnshire, in 2016, before killing himself. Claire Hart suffered years of controlling behaviour without the authorities realising and was killed after leaving her abusive husband.

One caseworker in County Durham said of the people suffering: “Many of them are in such a stressful situation they have shut down from any kind of rational thinking. It’s like all their effort goes into survival mode or protection for the kids … The longer it goes on the less likely they are to see the dangers.”

Escape is harder than in urban Britain because of shrinking resources and cuts to public services, the report says. “The availability of public services in rural areas more generally is on the decline, limiting the support networks and escape routes available to victims.

“A recently evidenced reduction in rural GP practices and challenges of effective broadband are good examples. This equally extends to services like buses and trains, whereby it remains very difficult (and getting worse) to travel within rural areas without a private vehicle. Abusers use this to limit victims’ movements, rendering already inaccessible services all but impossible to contact.”

Tight-knit communities keep victims in abusive relationships with perpetrators masquerading as pillars of rural life. One victim said: “In reality, no one wants to get involved in another person’s personal life. In my case, because he played for the village cricket team he had the support of everyone and this made me feel even more isolated. It was like no one would ever take my side over his.”

Women were expected to perform traditional roles under threat of abuse. One female victim said: “I understood what happened when I failed to provide what was expected. It started with a row, angry words really and then a crushing silence.

“Later this escalated to more consistent violence but never when the children were around. He would twist my arm or pull my hair and kind of whisper that I wasn’t treating him properly. Only once did he actually strike me hard – it was a punch to my stomach … all I had to do was perform in my role and I did.”

The study says the police response is improving, but worse than that in urban areas. One victim said: “ I never really considered calling the police – what’s the point? By that time, I had been hit, slapped or punched anyway.”

Julia Mulligan, the chair of the National Rural Crime Network who is also the North Yorkshire police, fire and crime commissioner, said: “They are underestimating what is going on in rural communities and police need to listen.”

There are also horror stories involving the police; the report details one woman’s experience: “The first officer had implied she was ‘silly and neurotic’ (he subsequently faced disciplinary action). It took nearly two years for her case to come to court and during that time she was befriended by another officer.

“However, the relationship turned toxic, he took advantage of the situation and also became controlling and monitored her movements. This officer was also a prominent member of the local community and shared mutual friends with her ex-husband.”

The woman said: “ I have lost everything I owned because I have had to leave and yet I am the victim.”

Mulligan said: “This report is clear – domestic abuse is hidden under our noses, hidden by abusers who like to keep it that way and on a scale of abuse hitherto unseen … its scale and nature is starkly exposed for the first time. Nodding and promising to carry on much as we do now is not good enough.”