3,2,1….

Victoria leant forward and felt the whoosh of air as it whipped past her face. She stepped forward into freefall and immediately felt the familiar rush of adrenaline as she left the plane behind and the earth raced towards her.

On the 9th of July 1996, a man walking his dog alongside a country lane in Chillenden, East Kent discovered three bodies which were partially concealed in leaves to the side of the road.

The bodies were of a woman and two young children and it was immediately clear they had been brutally murdered. Their heads were bloodied and misshapen and the horror of their final moments were etched on their faces.

On the 18th of September 2012, Police Constables, Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes set out on routine patrol in the Greater Manchester area. It was a typically pleasant autumn day, with nothing to indicate the horrors that would later unfold for them both.

People are often heard asking why domestic abuse victims do not simply just leave the relationship. Even if the person themselves know it’s time to end the relationship, there are often numerous emotions involved preventing them from walking away, such as shame, embarrassment or denial. And of course, in many cases, the victim is still very much in love with their abuser and wants to believe they can change. But people also often forget, that it’s not during the relationship itself that the most serious of assaults occur—it’s when the victim tries to leave.