00:01Mothers in Merseyside may find their own son is making them feel unsafe.
00:07A new phase of taking the action from Merseyside Police and the Police and
00:10Crime Commissioner aims to make this hidden form of domestic abuse easier to
00:16recognise. With the mother-son relationship in domestic abuse it is
00:21almost hidden and the mother might not recognise it as being typically
00:25domestic abuse. When we look at domestic abuse we would ordinarily think of
00:29that being with intimate relationships so therefore a mother may not realise
00:33that she's being subjected to domestic abuse from a son who she's wanting to
00:37care for, not criminalise or get into trouble. Abuse can include controlling
00:41behaviour, intimidation, threats, financial exploitation, property damage and
00:46violence. Mothers may struggle to name what's happening. Love, guilt, shame and
00:51fear of judgement can make it harder to speak out or to ask for help even
00:57within families. It's all about carrying on that message around the red flags
01:01trying to send that direct message to victims to say, you know, these are
01:05some of the red flags, you know, these are some things you shouldn't have to be
01:08putting up with. We want you to recognise this as abuse but we want to
01:11recognise that there is help out there for you as well. The campaign was
01:14developed with The First Step, a service supporting women and families
01:18affected by abuse. Once they phone us, we will offer them whatever support they
01:23need. So that could be really intense one-to-one support from one of the
01:28domestic abuse workers which will look at safety, it could look at the
01:33finances, it's about that person, what do they need. Partners want mothers to
01:38know that seeking help does not mean abandoning their sons. Abuse should not be
01:44dismissed as difficult behaviour or a matter of fact. You know, when we look at
01:49some of those behaviours that exist around domestic abuse, controlling
01:52coercive behaviour where they may try and restrict movement or stop them from
01:56going places or speaking to friends or that financial exploitation, they may not
02:00recognise that as being domestic abuse because of the familial relationship. A
02:04review published in 2024 called Femicide in Merseyside, 15 Years of Failing Women
02:11highlighted the need to understand matricide, meaning a child killing their
02:16mother. It found Merseyside's rate was twice that seen elsewhere in the UK.
02:22So together working collaboratively to help people at home say that to me and
02:28reach out sooner in the hope of saving more lives. So as the independent
02:34service, we have a self-referral service. So people don't need to have a
02:41professional to refer them into the service, they can just call. They don't
02:46even have to give us their name and we will give them advice, we will give them
02:50support. Anyone experiencing abuse or worried about someone else is encouraged
02:55to seek support from a specialist service or agency.
