How technology has offered a route to safety for domestic violence victims
With lockdown intensifying the abuse many are facing on a daily basis, Refuge has worked hard to offer 21st century solutions
“We’re sorry this is happening to you. Do you have somewhere to go? And is there anything that we can do for you?”
Last spring, Diana (not her real name) decided it was time to leave her emotionally abusive relationship of two years. She really wanted to talk about her next steps with someone impartial – but not on the phone.
“I’d made the leap in my head, but I couldn’t face anyone at that point,” Diana says. “I didn’t want to be the one doing any of the talking. So I logged on to the Refuge website to use their live chat service and get help while I basically hid behind my phone screen. I will never forget their first words to me.”
I went to a family funeral in lockdown - and it was the most uplifting thing I ve done for months
Funerals are very different thanks to Covid, but as our writer found, that doesn t make them any less meaningful
18 January 2021 • 12:00pm
Funerals remain one of the only occasions during which people from different households or support bubbles can come together
Credit: Karwai Tang/WireImage
Chances are, if you happen to see someone making a long trip across the country these days, they’re going to a funeral. As it stands, funerals and events related to a death remain one of the few occasions we’re allowed to travel long distances, stay overnight, or spend any time in close proximity with anyone outside of our households and support bubbles.
With a loved one in a care home, this difficult time almost unbearable, finds Paddy Magrane
17 January 2021 • 6:00am The virus tore through
care homes. For staff
who’ve lost residents,
it’s been devastating : Joy Body with her mum Christina on the seafront at Felixstowe, Suffolk. Joy s mother-in-law, Maureen, is a resident in a care home
Credit: Andrew Crowley
Joy Body, 53, lives in Felixstowe, Suffolk with her husband and adult daughter, for whom she cares. She also looks after her mother, Christina, 77, who for years has suffered with ME and fibromyalgia, conditions that cause her acute pain and prevent her from walking.