Suffolk charity urge football to help reduce domestic abuse during World Cup
The appeal comes as the controversial Qatar World Cup is about to get underway
Last updated 19th Nov 2022
A Suffolk charity is urging football fans, clubs and organisations to play their part in helping to prevent and reduce the number of domestic abuse incidents, this winter.
The appeal comes as the controversial Qatar World Cup is about to get underway.
This large-scale sports tournament is on for just under a month- and it's times like this where we often see a rise in domestic abuse cases, according to some research.
One in four women in the UK and one in six men will be affected by domestic abuse in their lifetime, according to the ManKind initiative
"I'm apprehensive"
Rhys Lloyd is from the domestic abuse charity, Leeway.
He told us how he's feeling on the eve of the competition.
"I'm apprehensive given the fact that the World Cup is being played in a place where it's widely expected that many people won't go to, so perhaps more people will instead be staying at home and drinking heavily".
Rhys said: “The period with covid I think really brought domestic abuse into the limelight, and I think it made people realise that home is actually not a safe place for everyone”.
“It shows that people actually do know where to go for support and it indicates that domestic abuse is perhaps being more widely recognised, which is obviously a big part of what we do. We want as many people as possible to know about domestic abuse, and the different forms it takes.
“There are many people out there that experience domestic abuse and they perhaps don’t know what it is, they don’t see themselves as victims, so, it’s about really reaching out to as many people as possible”.
"It's all about doing the little things well"
"Sport has a massive role to play in helping to tackle domestic abuse. Such as not stopping clubs putting posters up in their toilets and putting posters up outside of their ground. It's all about doing the little things well".
"The period of Covid really brought domestic abuse into the limelight. I think it made people realise that home isn't a safe place for everyone.
“It shows that people actually do know where to go for support and it indicates that domestic abuse is perhaps being more widely recognised, which is obviously a big part of what we do. We want as many people as possible to know about domestic abuse, and the different forms it takes.
“There are many people out there that experience domestic abuse and they perhaps don’t know what it is, they don’t see themselves as victims, so, it’s about really reaching out to as many people as possible”.