For this special edition of the podcast, Motherkind Café coordinator Katherine Crawford spoke to 2 Thames Valley Police officers, Detective Superintendent Kelly Gardener and Detective Sergeant Graeme Allen who specialise in domestic abuse. They explain how the police process works when a domestic abuse allegation is made by a victim, and the ways in which the police investigation can support and protect someone escaping an abusive relationship. 

Please don't suffer in silence - you can contact the Police via 999 if you are in immediate danger, or on 101 to discuss domestic abuse or get advice. You can also use a web form to report a crime or ask your GP, children school or another health professional to contact them for you. 

There is also support available via the following organisations

Women's Aid www.womensaid.org.uk

Refuge www.refuge.org.uk

In Oxfordshire:
www.reducingtherisk.org.uk/oxfordshire/

Free legal advice from Flag DV
www.flagdv.org.uk

Relate - Counselling for victims and survivors who are in, or have left, an abusive relationship.

www.relate.org.uk

The Motherkind Café is a perinatal peer support group in Oxford, where women can come at any stage from pregnancy until their children are at school, for support with their mental health. The group is entirely run by volunteers who are all mothers, many of whom have lived experience of a perinatal mental illness, and who all know what it's like to struggle as a mother. 

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