Avon and Somerset Police chief Sharon Baker speaks on domestic abuse in Queen's new film
Sharon Baker, a chief inspector with Avon and Somerset Police, created a support network for survivors in the force which then saw a large number of colleagues come forward
A senior Avon and Somerset Police officer has shared her experience of domestic abuse in an upcoming ITV documentary led by the Queen.
Chief Inspector Sharon Baker, who has personally experienced domestic violence, has established a support network for individuals within the force facing similar challenges after receiving responses from more than 130 colleagues who shared their experiences of abuse.
The ITV documentary, Her Majesty The Queen: Behind Closed Doors, captures a year of the Queen’s private engagements focused on domestic abuse, including her meetings with survivors and visits to refuge centres.
Speaking to ITV West Country about the upcoming documentary, Ch Insp Baker said: "I really hope it opens people's eyes to what coercive controlling behaviour looks like, because of course there are many myths and stereotypes about what domestic abuse is.
"Domestic abuse is not just physical abuse - so much of it is unseen".
Several years ago, Ch Insp Baker made a video describing her own experience of domestic abuse, which was shared with police colleagues.
Afterwards, Ch Insp Baker said she received messages from more than 130 other officers with similar experiences and subsequently set up a support network for officers.
She said: "It was the first time anyone had spoken openly in a police force about being a victim, and I think it really touched a lot of people".
"I thought maybe a dozen people would come forward but I never thought 138 people would come forward and say 'me too'".
She added: "I genuinely felt like I was the only one because no one sounded like me or looked like me.
"But when I look back now, I think, well, of course there are victims in policing, but we had a culture where no one was happy to talk about it".
She said people have continued to come forward, and that "every week someone else will reach out and say 'I'm a victim'".
The 90-minute programme also includes perspectives from survivors, relatives who have lost loved ones, and advocates like former Prime Minister Theresa May, Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips and Cherie Blair.
One victim told the programme how difficult it is to leave an abusive relationship.
She said: “There are invisible chains that are created, especially when you have children. You’re not just thinking about yourself, you’re thinking about people, little human beings, that you’re responsible for.”
Another described the moment her estranged husband tried to kill her.
She said: “I can see him reaching into a bag and I can see him pulling this sawn off shotgun out of the bag. He hit me with the butt of the gun…he pointed the gun at my chest, told me he loved me and pulled the trigger.”
Statistics highlighted in the documentary underscore the prevalence of domestic abuse, with one in five adults affected and three women dying by suicide each week due to abuse.
A domestic abuse-related call is made to emergency services every 30 seconds, yet only 24% are estimated to be formally reported.
The Queen said: “One of the most difficult things about domestic abuse, to understand, it’s not the bruises and the black eyes, which, unfortunately you see, through violence, this is something that creeps up very slowly and, far too often, it ends up with women being killed.
“You meet somebody, you think they’re wonderful and attractive and love you…and then bit by bit, they start to undermine you. They take away your friends, they take away your family…and then when you start questioning it…these people become very violent.”
The documentary will premiere on 11 November on ITV1, ITVX, STV, and STV Player.