Singer and advocate Melanie Brown (best known as Mel B) is speaking out, saying she wants to share her personal experiences to issue the world with an important reminder: domestic abuse survivors continue to need support even once they’ve left their harmful relationship – and healing doesn’t tend to follow an orderly timeline.
Brown, a patron of Women’s Aid and a “survivor”, says she has added additional chapters to her poignant memoir, Brutally Honest, to highlight the need for better long-term support. It comes at a time when data shows one in four women in England and Wales are believed to experience domestic abuse; meanwhile, a recent survey of domestic abuse services found 49% of organisations were forced to operate part of their service without dedicated funding and nearly 45% of organisations delivered services that should be provided by a statutory agency (a government body).
