Mother throttled in sleep backs call for abuse law
A DOMESTIC abuse victim who feared dying at the hands of an ex who throttled her in her sleep has backed calls for non-fatal strangulation to be made a specific offence.
The mother of three wants the ordeal adding to the Domestic Abuse Bill, being read today.
A petition signed by 106,000 has been delivered to 10 Downing Street in a bid to update the Bill before it is considered by the Lords.
Labour MP Jess Phillips has told how the majority of domestic abuse victims say partners use strangulation to control them.
The woman, who is too scared to be identified after her ex threatened to burn down her home, said: “It was horrific, my ex would strangle me until I passed out. I was sexually abused, I was strangled and faced a lot of violence.
“He would punch me in the neck, hold a knife to my throat. I would wake up while he was choking me. I passed out because he was choking me so hard. He did it before the police arrived and even though the house was smashed up and I was thrown to the floor, they didn’t do anything, even though there were marks on me.
“I was living in fear. I do hope there will be laws that start helping victims and protecting them more.”
Australia, New Zealand and some American states have legislation for non-fatal strangulation in domestic abuse cases.The woman said adding such cover to our Domestic Abuse Bill would be a lifesaver.
And campaigner Rachel Williams, who was a domestic abuse victim for 18 years, added: “To have nonfatal strangulation in the Bill would strengthen cases, the police are not going back to check on the victims.
“They are charging them with common assault, which you would get if you gave a slap in the face.”
Ms Phillips said: “All victims of domestic violence have cited strangulation as the biggest way of controlling them with violence. They think they are going to die.”