Patrick Stewart Says He And Other Victims Of Domestic Violence Have Been "Failed" By Police

Writing for the New Statesman, Sir Patrick Stewart explains why, when it comes to domestic violence, there’s no such thing as “just a domestic”.

Sir Patrick Stewart has written a moving article for the New Statesmen about how victims of domestic violence are failed by police and other state agencies.

Getty Images for Rodale Dimitrios Kambouris

Stewart begins by sharing the story of Sharon Souza, whose 24-year-old daughter, Cassie, was murdered by her husband in front of her two sons when she tried to escape to a woman's shelter.

It was later discovered through an inquest that two police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service had failed to help Cassie by taking steps that could have ultimately saved her life. "The sad truth is that Cassie's story is not unusual," Stewart says.

Stewart has been very open about his own childhood, and how his mother was regularly physically abused by his father.

Amnesty International / reddit.com

In the article, he recalls that on the "many occasions" police were called to his house, they would suggest his mother "must have provoked" his father, or say, "Well, Mrs Stewart, it takes two to make a fight."

mypocketshurt90.tumblr.com

Stewart writes that while as a child he "didn't have the words to explain" to the police what was really happening, as an adult, "I can tell the truth" – the truth being that the police "failed" in their duty to protect Stewart and his mother.

"They left us powerless and vulnerable," he says.

Stewart concludes his powerful article by stating that "our system is broken", and that "women and children continue to die in large numbers because they are not given the support and protection they deserve".

You can read the entirety of Sir Patrick Stewart's article over at the New Statesmen.