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Emotional abuse
UK News

Black-majority church leaders tackle issue of domestic violence at conference

Figures estimate one in four women and one in six men experience domestic abuse at some point in their lifetimes.

Speakers at the unique event included Dr Cecilia Cappel, a Senior Lecturer at Kingston University who's carried out research into how churches support survivors of domestic abuse, Rev David Shosanya from the London Baptist Association, and Nikki McKreith from the domestic abuse charity REFUGE.

It's hoped that the conference will encourage conversations about the issue in black-majority churches and help victims come forward. It's also hoped that churches will come forward to receive training on how to support abuse sufferers where necessary.

Marcia Dixon, who helped organise the event, told Premier: "Women don't always see the Black church as a safe space to talk about the hell that they might be experiencing at home in terms of abuse and domestic violence that they're encountering from their partners.

"Domestic violence is still one of those issues that people within the Black Christian community know happens, but people aren't always willing to come to fore and say: 'It's wrong, you can get support if you're a victim'.

"It's one of those issues that's still quite taboo.

"People who lead churches, there are people that have experienced it, and as a church we can't just turn a blind eye to it.

"We have to put systems in place that we can give support to those people that are victims."

Listen to Premier's Aaron James speaking to Marcia Dixon here:

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