Last week our two team members who work within the hospital setting went around wards in Margate and Gillingham to remind the medical teams we are here and to raise awareness of male victims and carers who are victims. They do this regularly, giving out useful info about the warnings signs to look out for in patients and referral pathways to support, pens so they can take notes, and sweet treats to keep them going. Our teams who work in hospital are called HIDVAs (Hospital Independent Domestic Abuse Advisor) and they work on site to support both patients and hospital staff experiencing violence behind closed doors. (fb)

A new study by Glasgow University reinforces what survivors and frontline services have long known: domestic abuse can cause lifelong changes to brain health, with devastating consequences for mental wellbeing, memory, and daily life. This is not just a personal tragedy, it’s a public health crisis that affects families, communities, and our entire society. People who’ve lived through domestic abuse, including children, have often spent years in fear, walking on eggshells, or trying to survive in a volatile environment. That is traumatic. It rewires how you think, how you respond to stress, and how safe you feel in the world. The idea that this has long term impact isn’t shocking, it’s what so many survivors already know, but haven’t always been believed about. We have to stop treating domestic abuse like it ends when someone walks out the door. It doesn’t. The impact lasts mentally, emotionally, and physically, for years. If we’re serious about mental health, public health, and prevention, then we need to get serious about understanding the long term effects of abuse and designing services, workplaces, and systems that respond to that reality. (fb)