Service manager at Cavan and Monaghan's Domestic Abuse Support Service wants local victims to know that although abuse often intensifies over Christmas, "you are not alone".
Siobhan McKenna from Tearmann said Christmas "can be a frightening and isolating time for women and children as the family is together for an extended period". Her message to victims is that "domestic abuse and coercive control is a "persistent and deliberate pattern of behaviour by an abuser designed to achieve obedience and create fear". The control may include intimidation, stalking and degradation. "It is not an expression of love, it is abuse and it is a crime," Siobhan said. With over 20 years of working with victims, Siobhan's explicit advice is to "reach out".
Domestic abuse "thrives on secrecy" she said, and reaching out "could save your life".
