Dispatches

Tina Nash from Do You Know Your Partner's Past? recounts her experiences making the Dispatches documentary.

The Refuge

The Refuge was brilliant because we couldn't find it! When we did arrive, I was happy that there was CCTV to keep the people living there safe. I thought Pam, the refuge worker, was a genuine person and what she is doing is amazing. She told me that refuges are turning women away, that shocked me, I don't think there are enough of them, there should be more.

When I met one of the women living in the refuge it was the first time I'd spoken face to face with another domestic violence victim and I was quite nervous about that. Hearing her story about the years of abuse she'd suffered upset me. Because of him, she has had to leave everything behind and move into a refuge.

It did make me feel sad that there are people are in that situation across the country and it made me mad to know that the guy can carry on with life while she is hiding in refuge. But it was great to see the support a refuge can offer: one was never offered to me.

The Victim's Mother

I was really worried and nervous about meeting Victoria Blower [pictured right, above] because she lost her daughter, Casey Brittle. I didn't want to say the wrong thing; I was trying to imagine my mum having to sit there and talk about me. It upset me. She was very, very angry about what happened to Casey. I can understand that completely. Her daughter called the police 11 times. She thinks they need to spot the signs earlier and use their intuition. She sceptical of Clare's Law because she says it's in some people to just kill.

Victoria is a very strong woman and very brave for telling her story to another victim for the first time.

I think she was probably just as nervous about meeting me as a domestic violence survivor, as I was meeting her. I really like her.

Michael Brown, Clare Wood's Dad

I thought it was going to be interesting meeting Michael, he's campaigned for Clare's Law for so long. I've never had a father figure so to see domestic violence from a father's perspective was upsetting for me. He is such a brave man and he made me feel so welcome. I was telling him that I think there should be a tagging system so it's the perpetrators that have to move away, not the victims. Clare had left the relationship by the time she was murdered but Michael believes if she'd known about her killer's history of violence she would have been able to leave the relationship sooner and make an informed decision for her safety.

Read more about Clare's Law on the Channel 4 News website

The Freedom Programme

I thought this scheme was a good idea because you can go and get information about domestic violence and women can chat to other victims. I found it quite hard to understand at the time how the women there could laugh about their relationships, it baffled me: why are you laughing? But then I realised it was their way of dealing with it.

When I told them what I had been through, the room went very quiet. It was good to talk about it, if it helps someone then that's a good thing out of all of this. I think a course of this type could be done in school to allow kids to realise domestic violence is not right and there is no excuse.

I met a woman there who is in and out of an abusive relationship. It was similar to the situation I was in when people are telling you to leave and you don't, you just stick your head in the sand and pretend it's all ok when it's not. I think she's in limbo in the middle of leaving him but can't. She's stuck; it's the worst place to be. I think she should listen to the advice she's being given, she's lucky to have it.

Ex-Perpetrator

I didn't want to shake his hand or give him a hug because I felt like all perpetrators are the same as my ex. I was shaking and scared, I didn't know how violent he had been. When he started to cry, when he met me, I didn't know what to do, if he had been victim I would have hugged him, but because I knew he had attacked someone I didn't know what to do, but I knew I definitely didn't want to hug him. He said at the time of the attack he had tried to justify what he had done but said after he did the rehabilitation course he realised there was no justification. Once I started chatting to him I realised he was nowhere on scale of my ex, he had put his hands up to what he had done and got help. I admire him for that. He supports Clare's Law, as he thinks people have a right to know if their partner has a past.

Male victim: Ian McNicholl

Ian's story affected me a lot; I couldn't understand how such a big strong man could have ended up becoming a victim of domestic abuse. He is a big guy, I could tell that from the hug, but then I realised his situation started off very similar to mine and that size didn't matter. He was manipulated by his girlfriend and then the violence started. The level of the attack that she inflicted was appalling and disgusting. I felt so angry for this poor guy. He was burned with cigarettes and had boiling water thrown on him.

Ian thought the name Clare's Law implied the pilot scheme was just to help women and that's why I felt it was important to get the other side of the story and hear from a male victim. You always hear about women but I wanted to get across it happens to men too and also it happens in same sex relationships and people need to understand that.

Gwent Police: DCI Roger Fortey

I really enjoyed meeting DCI Roger Fortey and the Domestic Violence Officer at Gwent Police. I felt Roger was very genuine and honest; he is really trying to make Clare's Law work. He is fighting to prevent domestic violence before it starts which is great. He didn't mind hearing criticism; I think he actually liked to hear the different opinions on Clare's Law so he could learn from them. He explained clearly to me what they were hoping to achieve with Clare's Law and how he hopes it will work.

In Summary