‘Speak up’ plea over domestic abuse in borough

A CAMPAIGN has been launched to encourage residents in a borough to speak up about domestic abuse.

Barnsley Council, with the South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit and the Independent Domestic Abuse Service (IDAS), hope to prevent domestic abuse and encourage healthy relationships through the Speak Up campaign, letting people know there’s someone there for them.

A new campaign poster was unveiled at the Library at the Lightbox encouraging people to contact the IDAS helpline if they are experiencing abuse.

Maisie Argyle, from IDAS, said referrals to the service spiked in lockdown, but have not yet fallen to pre-lockdown levels.

“We massively had an increase during Covid, but it’s not gone back down,” Ms Argyle told the local democracy reporting service.

“Our helpline calls have increased – it’s amazing that people are coming forward and accessing support.

“I feel it’s not going to go down, if anything it’s going to stay as it is.”

Ms Argyle says she has noticed an increase in people experiencing issues with trackable technology.

“When people are having these confidential conversations, they might believe that someone is not in the home physically, but they could be at work and they could click a button and be listening in to every single conversation they’re having.

“That is something definitely that I have noticed in my work personally that is on the rise and is causing a lot of additional issues that not a lot of people consider either.”

If you or anyone you know is suffering from any form of domestic abuse, please contact IDAS on 03000 110 110.