Rural abuse survivors call for better support as they share stories of isolation and fear

Domestic abuse survivors who grew up or live in remote parts of the UK are urging governments to do more to help victims in rural communities, saying distance, isolation and close-knit social networks make it harder for people to escape and seek help.

Tracy Lewis, a 48-year-old farmer from mid-Wales, has spoken publicly for the first time about the physical and emotional abuse she suffered at the hands of her father while growing up on the family farm in Llanbister, Powys. Her family gave the BBC permission to share her story.

She described her childhood as "torture", recalling how, at the age of eight, her father pulled her out of bed by her hair to help with lambing. As she walked past the bathroom, she saw her mother with blood covering her face and a broken nose. "You have to get the lamb out or we're both going to die," her mother told her.

Tracy said the animals on the farm were sometimes used as a means of control or as a trigger for violence. Beatings would follow the death of an animal, and her mother would be hurt when livestock fell ill. "It felt like slavery," she said. "We loved the animals and farming but we were isolated and stuck."

She recalled that as a child she sometimes considered calling ChildLine because she was so terrified. Now a mother of three and a farmer herself, Tracy believes the farming community, while supportive in many ways, can also conceal abuse with ease. "The farming world is the best place to be, neighbours will always help you out, but abuse can be hidden very easily," she said. "Everyone knows everybody, but what goes on behind closed doors will stay behind closed doors."

Isolation was a central feature of the abuse, according to Tracy. She said her mother, who she believes suffered the worst of the violence, tried her best to protect her children but was completely cut off, with the farm forming the whole of her life. Tracy herself felt trapped on the holding where she grew up between Llandrindod Wells and Newtown.

She also alleged that her father, who is now dead, financially abused her. She claimed the farm would one day be passed down to her, and she worked on it for two decades, paying rent to him on that understanding. After discovering the farm had not been left to her in his will, she said she had to fight to keep ownership of it.

Tracy is one of roughly 11 million people living in rural areas, more than 15% of the UK population. The National Rural Crime Network has said the true scale of rural domestic abuse is often hidden, with survivors facing greater obstacles to reaching support services.

Rhianon Bragg, who owns a smallholding in Gwynedd, north Wales, knows those barriers intimately. In 2019, her ex-partner Gareth Wyn Jones ambushed her with a gun at her home. He was wearing camouflage gear and carrying a shotgun when he subjected her to an eight-hour overnight ordeal. She screamed for help but knew no one would hear her because of how remotely she lived. "There were several moments that night when I thought I wouldn't see my children again," she said.

Rhianon has now spoken in depth about her experience as part of a new BBC iPlayer series, It Happened To Me. She has also worked with police and other agencies to try to improve how domestic abuse and stalking are handled in the countryside. She said the attack turned her home from "a place of peaceful seclusion to a place of vulnerable isolation", and highlighted the extra difficulties created by rural living.

She has called for all UK and Welsh government domestic abuse policies to be "rural proofed", pointing to problems such as poor internet connectivity and long distances from police stations. "There is so much that should be addressed for people to be treated evenly, and at the moment, if you live rurally you're on the back foot," she said.

The UK government said it was working to address disparities between rural and urban areas, while the Welsh government said the challenges faced in rural communities would be considered as part of its next national strategy on domestic abuse.

Both Tracy and Rhianon want other victims in rural areas to know they are not alone, and they are pressing for practical changes, including better access to support, improved digital connectivity and services that understand the particular pressures of isolated communities. Their accounts underline how geography, financial dependence and the tight bonds of rural life can combine to trap people in abusive situations, and why targeted support is needed to reach them.