Transcripts For BBCNEWS Victoria Derbyshire 20240714

From the west. Overnight lows of 1613d. We from the west. Overnight lows of 16 13d. We start the working week with low pressure dominating which will bring more showers throughout the day. Throughout the rest of the week, it will bring more showers, mainly in the north and west, where some of them will continue to be heavy with the chance of flooding. Hello, this is bbc news with lu kwesa burak. The headlines two Mass Shootings in the united states. The first in a Walmart Store in el paso, texas, where 20 people were killed. A suspect has been taken into custody by police. Hes been identified by local media as 21 year old patrick crusius. The second shooting took place in dayton, ohio, where nine people died. Officials said the speed of the polices response could have saved hundreds of lives. If Dayton Police had not gotten to the shooter in under a minute. Think of that, 26 injured, nine dead, hundreds of people in the oregon district could be dead today. Heathrow airport holds last minute talks with unions in an attempt to avert strikes next week, but they say airlines have started to contact passengers on affected flights. Now its time for Victoria Derbyshire the week in review. Hello, and welcome. Im riz lateef. Over the next half an hour well show you some of the highlights from our programme over the last week. And we start with a health warning, that the uk is in the midst of a hidden Public Health crisis when it comes to sleep. Those are the words of the woman who runs one of the countrys leading nhs child sleep services. Professor Heather Elphick at the sheffield Childrens Hospital sleep clinic, along with the local council, operate a pioneering scheme that helps 800 children a year to get more sleep. But the professor told this programme that there is a Postcode Lottery when it comes to childrens sleep services, and that many more are needed across the country. Its a fear. You absolutely dread evenings. They were literally waking up 20, 30, a0 times a night. Hed come to the side of my bed and just scream. There was absolutely no way i could return to work. We have parents separating. I think it is getting worse. We are bursting at the seams. I think were in the midst of a hidden Public Health crisis when it comes to sleep. Weve got twin girls, jessica and jasmine, who are four. They are sensitive souls but theyre very lively, very full on. Dont like sitting still. Like to keep busy. Typical toddlers. But they are hard work. Theyre not the easiest. Well done. Its not been helped because they had quite a difficult start in life. Theyve suffered with chronic recurrent illnesses, food allergies, repeated hospital admissions. So the first few years have been pretty tough. One, two, three. Good boy. He is very, very energetic, so he can be quite boisterous. No, no, no. Let go. When he was born he had really bad colic, so he was being sick at night. He went on some asthma medication when he was younger and that helped him, but then he used to get really bad night terrors as a result of the medication. He was getting about three or four hours a night, sometimes. Coming up to three months, where a lot of other babies around that age start to settle a bit more, and things were just getting worse and worse and worse. They literally hardly ever slept. Id have one in bed with me and the other one would be withjulian in another bedroom. He was trying to settle one, i was trying to settle the other. They were literally waking up anything from ten, 20, 30, 40 times a night and thats no exaggerating. 40 times a night was quite the norm. He would bang the door so that i would try and wake up. If that didnt work, hed come to the side of my bed and just scream. Youd literally wake up in the morning, or not wake up in the morning because youd still be awake, but youd literally get up and youd think, i dont even know what time it is. I dont know what day it is. I dont know where i am. He would end up suffering with severe abdominal pain, where he wouldnt even be able to get up off the sofa and the nights were so long, so, so long. They were then having a lot of febrile convulsions and ending up in hospital. The temperature spikes and it happens so quickly that it sends the body into a seizure. It was heartbreaking to see as a parent and not be able to do anything about it. I was planning to return to work after 12 months. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no way i could return to work. My husband, julian, was having Trouble Holding down hisjob, just through exhaustion, sheer exhaustion. I was struggling to look after the girls. It is really difficult to focus and do yourjob properly. At one point, i think i even said to them, im not going to be any use for you today, i think im going to have to go home. Right, im just walking you through to the new orange outpatients area and this is where our clinic rooms are. When they first came in, i explained that it is an hours appointment and its a long, detailed history, going right back to the birth, any medical history, the environment they fall to sleep in, anything that impacts on sleep. Recently, we had a scaffolder falling asleep and going at great heights. We had parents not being able to sleep in the same beds. The effects on the marriage, home life, jobs. Oh, my goodness, every extreme. So she worked closely with us and the girls on devising a sleep programme so we were able to teach the girls how to sleep. Where can i put it . I am taking them in the car. This is the routine. An hour before bed, wed start dimming the lights downstairs, tv, radio off, screens off. And we do colouring, drawing, building games, anything that involves hand eye coordination. That helps relax them. Wed then go upstairs for a bath and they were straight into the bedroom and we stick to exactly the same routine, even to the point where its the same wording that we use when we are saying good night to them every night, so its consistency. Weve talked through a bedtime routine for noah that suits noah. Obviously, what suits for noah, wont suit for another child. We did one timetable and had to change it. It gave me the confidence to push and get the results because that is the main thing, when you are struggling so much, itjust helps to know that somebody is there to give you the knowledge that you need. You the nudge that you need. It was a very emotional time for myself. And my husband. Just knowing that somebody understood what you were saying and said theyd be able to help you. What is it . They were diagnosed with restless legs and theyre now on medication that helps with that. It is a medication, a sedation. It doesnt send them to sleep, it doesnt keep them asleep, it just takes the edge off, so it stops them being quite as restless and therefore they are not waking themselves up as often in the night. In the sleep study it shows he suffers with parasomnias, which makes it so that, with the transition of sleep, he will sleep walk. He sleep talks. Shouts, screams, cries, laughs. Its good for me now to know why he doesnt sleep. Its a Postcode Lottery when it comes to sleep services across the country. Provision is very patchy. We see 800 new children every year in the city. I feel thatsjust the tip of the iceberg. We are in the midst of a hidden Public Health crisis when it comes to sleep. There are more children that cant sleep than we realise. I think its something that parents are not happy to talk about. Its embarrassing. They feel that theyre being judged and people are judging their parenting skills if a child cant sleep, so they dont necessarily go and find help. Uh oh. When things were really bad, he couldnt hold his focus on a single activity for longer than five minutes. Now hes starting to actually sleep in his own bed. His concentration is a lot better at school. Its been a struggle, but a struggle that weve done together. I dont even really like talking about the days prior to sleep. We still have challenges with their sleep now. Its not something that comes naturally to them, still. A year down the line its still something they have to be shut down. We have to stick to the routine. But on a good night, we can walk out and then, 12 hours later, they will wake up. Rape is one of the most devastating and traumatic experiences, yet rape prosecutions in england and wales have fallen to their lowest rate in more than five years. A major review published on wednesday looked in depth at 501 allegations of rape made across london in 2016, and found that only 6 of allegations reached trial, with just 3 resulting in a conviction. We spoke to Claire Waxman who conducted the review, and chris tuck who reported her childhood sexual abuse to the met police for the third time in 2016. Chris, you were sexually abused as a child, again as a teenager, and in both instances you went to the police and in both instances, no further action was taken at that time. You decide to go back again in 2016. Why was that . I just thought the climate had changed. The enquiry had come along, the independent enquiry into child sexual abuse and i went through the truth project to share my lived experiences so i could make my experiences count for something. They asked me there, did you want your information passed to the police and i thought, why not, may be at last i can get why not, maybe at last i can get justice for what i went through as a child, because it has impacted me in my life to today. Do you feel you are getting justice, we are now three years on . We are three years on. No. Throughout the case, one of the Police Officers truly did believe what she was told, and she felt that it would go to court, but obviously it hasnt and i am now fighting through the victims rights review and the victims code. We thought we might get the no further action overturned, however, we cant get it overturned, so now we are taking out a private criminal prosecution to get the justice we think we deserve. It sounds exhausting. Time and time again you have gone through this. How has the process been for you . As you said, its very emotionally draining, very exhausting. But the fact we have, or i have, in my particular instance, there is enough evidence, but its not in the Public Interest to prosecute, really angers me, because there is clearly enough evidence, but why are they not taking it further . Ifeel like because it is not going to court, the perpetrator, or alleged perpetrator, is not being charged, therefore the world sees that as, hes getting away, he is innocent, and we are telling lies, and thats just not the truth. I understand you were asked to hand over your phone, your social media accounts. We are talking about abuse that happened decades before social media even existed. How did you feel about those kinds of requests . A bit flabbergasted, really. I asked them, what has this got to do with non recent abuse cases, for the exact reason you said. They said, because rape cases had collapsed in a public manner, that all cases of rape and non recent abuse, where even if there was sexual abuse, sexual assault, they were all being reviewed and that was the point that was being made and everyone had to go through that. It actually delayed our case by another 18 weeks because we had to give over all our social media. But the police didnt even know how to do that. How to process it . How to process it, yes. I downloaded it and sent it to them on a stick and i was told, that it cant be done like that and they have to do it themselves and there was a backlog. It was so frustrating because we were on the verge of getting a charging decision, and it was another three months, but we didnt know it would be another three months, 18 weeks. It dragged on and on and its exhausting to live like that day to day. Claire, two and a half years on from when chris first went to the police, her case is still being processed. Your report is looking at 500 cases from 2016. How common are the sort of experiences chris has spoken about here and described . Sadly, very common. Thats why it was important for us to look at and do this comprehensive study. During the month of april 2016, we took any reported rape to the met police and tracked there was 501 cases through the system to really understand what was causing the delays and what was happening in the charging decision process, or policing decision process, and how many were actually getting to court and then conviction. It was really important we got that information because we know that charging decisions and conviction rates have dropped but we need to understand what is driving that and this report gives an in depth look into what is driving those issues. What do you think is causing this . Is it delays, as you were describing, chris, or is it other things . Some people might say there are false allegations in some cases. All the research that has been done into false allegations, the cps did research in 2013, and it is 3 , so there is a misplaced belief that false allegations are rife, they are not. That goes along with other deeply entrenched myths that stops victims getting the justice they need. Its the way the Justice System is structured as well. Everything is around really focusing on the victim and scrutinising them to see if they are credible or an ideal victim. Most victims, from what we have seen in the research, do not come across as ideal because they are suffering from trauma, so the inconsistencies in memory that we see, it plays against them and they are not seen as credible. But there is a reality to that, and there is research as to why they present in that way and it is completely understandable. We need the Justice System to start to see the process through the lens of trauma and change the way they investigate and prosecute these cases. The ministry ofjustice have told us they are conducting a review into why Rape Convictions have declined. Why do you think that is . As i say, there are a number of reasons. We have seen an increase in reporting, so victims have had more confidence over the years to come forward but it is still very underreported. But when they come forward they are not being treated in the right way during the investigation. The questioning process, the types of questions they asked, it exacerbates the trauma and they cant give the best evidence. We are layering on top lots of different processes around looking at third party material, counselling and medical records, and we have seen digital evidence come into sharp focus and that all plays a part in preventing victims from progressing. Finally, on thursday we revealed that the number of male students engaging with University Counselling and well being services is less than half that of female students. But official statistics show male students are twice as likely to take their own life. Our reporter Chris Hemmings has more. The Mental Health of british students has deteriorated rapidly in the last few years. In fact, there is now five times more students disclosing Mental Health problems to their universities as there was a decade ago. As a result, the office for students has announced a £14. 5 Million Programme to try and reduce the number of student suicides. But official statistics show that the suicide rate for male students is more than double that of females, and this programme may have uncovered a reason why. Our Research Shows that women are more than twice as likely than men to use their universitys counselling and well being services. Both Fraser Lister and Michael Priestley had a Mental Health diagnosis before they arrived at university. They spent years struggling to cope with both the academic and social pressures of university life, and yet neither reached out to the counselling services on offer. So, when i was 16 years old, two weeks before i sat my gcse exams, i lost my dad. He died of heart complications. While going out for a run, ifound him on the road and it was quite a traumatic experience. And that really sent me into a bit of a spiral, but i was determined to get myself to university, and so that was what i did. By the time i was 18, those sort of depressive and anxious thoughts had really manifested and i was diagnosed with depression at the age of 18. So, ive been struggling with my Mental Health for a long time. I first started self harming when i was aged 16. Whilst id been through some really difficult ups and downs with it, i was finally diagnosed with depression just before the start of my a levels, but actually, things got so bad that i put off going to university for two years, just because i felt anxious about it and i felt so hopeless about the future that i couldnt really see the point. Upon joining university, i was faced with a number of different pressures. I was writing two 2000 word essays a week. I was trying to navigate a new social landscape. I was trying to have a fresh start, and i was dealing with the hyper masculine sense that i needed to be going out all the time. I needed to be the life and soul of the party, and although i was aware that the University Counselling services existed, i wasnt engaging with it properly and ifound myself at a point of crisis and i tried to take my own life. Having not been in study for two years, i found the Academic Work really, really difficult. I also felt out of place socially, i was a bit older than a lot of other people. I didnt really know how to make friends. I became anxious about going to lectures and seminars, so i quickly didnt. I was aware that there was support provided by the university, however i didnt really see the point of investing the time. I finally engaged with the counselling service when ijust reached a total crisis point again. Id started self harming, but even then, i kind of engaged with counselling somewhat relu cta ntly. Having been linked up with the counselling service and a counsellor that i really believed in, i gradually started to open up. I gradually started to engage properly. It was good to go in and be able to release that and i became a much more active member of not only my college but also my academic community. The counsellor was really understanding and really supportive and didnt pressure me to talk about things or explain things that i didnt feel comfortable with. And, actually, not only did i find that counselling started to help me emotionally, it actually started to help me academically and i started to feel like there was other areas of student life that i could get involved with. I also realised how many other people around me were dealing with the same things. But, in particular, how men and the men that i was friends with were more likely to downplay their emotions, to build up this sense of masculinity and this stoicism that meant that they werent seeking the help that they needed in exactly the same way that i had. I saw this as an opportunity to maybe take what id learned and my experiences and use them to help other people. And just by talking to blokes around college, in my rugby team, and telling them that it was ok to feel concerned, not only for themselves but for each other and to reach out for that help. Id started to realise there were a lot of people that were struggling, particularly men, that didnt feel able or comfortable to seek help or talk about it to their friends or in that university space. And this became a big interest for me and im now doing a phd, looking at student Mental Health and well being and how we can improve student Mental Health and well being at university. We asked all 133 universities in the uk what the gender split was of those presenting for Mental Health and well being support at their counselling or well being services. Across the uk, men make up 44 of the student population. But responses from 100 universities showed that only 31 of those seeking support identified as male. The heads of Student Counselling Services is the Umbrella Organisation for University Counselling across the country. Its former chair and Current Executive Committee member alan percy told us. Counsellors at Birkbeck University recognised this issue in 2017 and they became the First University Outreach Team to research why so few men were coming through their doors. Weve been given exclusive access to their findings and how theyve already had success in increasing the number of men they see. I think the main theme that we could see coming through was around stigma. The theme particularly being around stigma, that it was very difficult to take the initial step of asking for help with really quite exposing difficulties, on occasions. So, men also said that they would have difficulty coming forward for small problems. They thought that really they ought to be able to cope with those of their own, theyd only consider counselling for very big problems. There was definitely something about the need for men to be masculine in society today, and somehow that acknowledging difficulties or vulnerability somehow depletes their masculinity. Our communications werent speaking to men in this college. So, we addressed that, we created some posters and leaflets. We put them to the focus groups, we got feedback on them. We thought about demystifying the counselling service, so weve created a video, showing the rooms, showing a counsellor, showing a sort ofjourney into the counselling service. We created podcasts. Four out of the six of the case study students in the podcasts are male. Hopefully demystifying what could go on in a counselling session. Weve had a significant increase in men. Weve seen that its gone up by 6 , significant but still work to do, i think. One of the aims of the project was that services across the uk can apply it to their own service and think about these issues and hopefully help more men to access help in a timely manner. And thats it for this weeks programme. A reminder that you can always send us your ideas. We are back on monday morning at 10am on bbc two and the bbc news channel. Have a great weekend. For some of us this week it hasnt been too bad, especially across the south east where it has been warm and humid but further north and west showers will develop especially this evening where we will see downpours affecting some areas of Northern England. A warm end to the day for south eastern areas, 26 degrees, further north closer to the average but were concerned about some of these thunderstorms in the evening affecting parts of scotland and Northern England, some of the floods sensitive areas there. These hit and miss downpours could be potent and produce a bit of lightning, hail and gusty winds as they continue to move north and east as the evening wears on. Another batch of showery rain pushes into Northern Ireland, another front so once this band of showers clears away after a very brief dry interlude overnight this next batch of showers will push into many central and western areas. No work will be especially cold tonight, 13 16 the overnight lows, then into the new week this area of low pressure will stick around for a while and bring some showers to our shores for monday. Most of those will form along these weather fronts so will form along these weather fronts so there will be bands of showers affecting scotland into Northern Ireland, one band clearing away from Eastern England but there will be warm sunshine in between, with temperatures reaching highs of 25 celsius and it could be humid across the south east, 18 20dc across scotla nd the south east, 18 20dc across scotland where most of the showers will be. On tuesday the low pressure still affecting the north east corner, most of these showers are push into many central and western areas. No work will be especially cold tonight, 13 16 the overnight lows, then into the new week k this area of low pressure will stick around for a while and bring some showers to our shores for monday. Most of those will form along these weather fronts so there will be bands of showers affecting scotland into Northern Ireland, one band clearing away from Eastern England but there will be warm sunshine in between, with temperatures reaching highs of 25 celsius and it could be humid across the south east, 18 20dc across scotland were most of the showers will be. On tuesday the low pressure still affecting the north east corner, most of these showers scotland and Northern Ireland and maybe into Northern England and wales and localised flooding could be monday. It stays u nsettled flooding could be monday. It stays unsettled for the rest of the week thanks to this area of low pressure, some of the showers in the north and west will be heavy with the risk of thunder and localised flooding, the south east seeing the best brightness and drier weather but maybe a few degrees cooler on monday. It stays unsettled for the rest of the week thanks to this area of low pressure, some of the showers in the north and west will be heavy with the risk of this is bbc news. Im lukwesa burak. The headlines at 4 two Mass Shootings in the united states. The first in a Walmart Store in el paso, texas, where 20 people were killed. A suspect has been taken into custody by police. Hes been identified by local media as 21 year old patrick crusius. The second shooting took place in dayton, ohio, where nine people died. Officials said the speed of the Police Response could have saved hundreds of lives. If Dayton Police had not gotten to the shooter in under a minute. Think of that, 26 injured, nine dead, hundreds of people in the