Hampshire charity warning domestic abuse victims of potential dangers with government alarm

A Hampshire charity is warning domestic abuse victims of the potential dangers of the government alert later today.

The alarm will sound a siren and vibrate phones today at 3pm.

Domestic abuse victims are being advised by Hampshire charity, Stop Domestic Abuse, to turn the alert off on secondary phones.

Rachel Windebank, Operations Director and Deputy CEO of Stop Domestic Abuse, said: "Although it's not all victims, some victims feel that it's safer for them to have a secondary phone.

"So if they're able to talk, if they're talking to the police or they're getting support from an organisation like Stop Domestic Abuse, then they will be doing that through their secondary phone, which will often be on silent and often be hidden.

"However, this emergency alert, and we've been incorporating this into all of the safety planning that we've been doing with people, would obviously alert the perpetrator to them.

"But there's really simple, straightforward ways to be able to turn that off.

"So if you've got an iPhone or Android, just search emergency alerts and turn that off on the secondary phone to prevent that being discovered by the perpetrator, and put that person at increased risk of harm."

If you need support, you can visit Stop Domestic Abuse.

Or contact the Samaritans.

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