Child-to-parent violence is often described as ‘the secret side’ of domestic abuse, because parents who experience it struggle so much to talk about it, or even admit it’s happening. There is a sense of shame around it even greater than the shame that can surround the better-known forms of domestic abuse such as partner-to-partner, or parent-to-child. There is also a strong sense of loyalty — parents, by their nature, will mostly try to protect their children at all costs. And sometimes that cost is to themselves.