Marianne had been in a relationship with Ryan for over 10 years and it was when Marianne became pregnant that the abuse started. Ryan wouldn’t let her have any money and constantly wanted to know where she was. He would grab Marianne and physically assault her; she was often covered in bruises. Marianne and Ryan went on to have other children and the abuse got worse over time.
“I couldn’t even go to the hairdressers without him.”
One evening when Ryan had assaulted Marianne, she managed to call the police. On attending their home address, the police were able to take Marianne and the children to a family member’s house for safety. Following the report to the police, Marianne felt more confident to reach out for support and a referral was received for them to come into our refuge.
Marianne struggled to work with professionals following her own experiences in childhood. However, over time she started to work closely with refuge staff and open up about the abuse she had experienced. Refuge staff supported Marianne to get a Non- Molestation Order and to report incidents to the police where Ryan breached the terms of the order.
The Children’s Team in refuge were able to support Marianne with parenting the children alone and with other meetings with Social Care and appointments relating to child contact issues. They also worked closely with the children and encouraged participation with other activities in refuge such as wellbeing sessions, after school clubs and other play and activity sessions.
The Refuge Team supported Marianne with the child contact issues through court and following this the children are settled and happier. Marianne has now moved on from refuge to her own property and she is more confident to ask for further help and support if she needs it.
“I am highly grateful that I have my support worker. She has been there for me from the minute I came into refuge. She is always there no matter the problem and has been really helpful.”