Surge in ‘strong women’ reporting cases of abuse

ONE of Britain’s top divorce lawyers has warned of a surge in ‘strong, successful’ women coming forward to report domestic abuse.

Ayesha Vardag, dubbed ‘the Diva of Divorce’ after a string of highprofile court battles, said enquiries at her firm had risen by more than a third since 2018.

The victims were high-earning, financially independent career women in the ‘vast majority’ of cases, according to Ms Vardag.

They reported abuse ranging from physical violence to narcissism and so-called gaslighting in which victims are deliberately driven by their abusers to question their thoughts, memories and even their own sanity.

Ms Vardag told The Mail on Sunday that victims approaching her firm, Vardags, for help were ‘often very strong people, successful, even powerful people who become the victims of abuse in their deep commitment to trying to save the relationship, the marriage, the family, and regain the former love’.

She added that this was sometimes because they feel ‘they can be stronger than other people, endure more, take responsibility for others, fix them’.

Her comments come after the UK and Scottish Governments strengthened domestic abuse laws with tougher measures for perpetrators. A legal definition of domestic abuse was extended beyond physical violence to include emotional and economic abuse and coercive control.

Ms Vardag said she believed that alongside a ‘well-documented increase in domestic violence’ in the Covid lockdowns, the new law meant ‘there is also more awareness and consequently more reporting’ of domestic abuse.

She said abusers often begin as loving and supportive to make partners vulnerable, explaining: ‘Victims are blindsided by gifts, holidays, demonstrations of their partner’s love for them in multiple forms. Victims feel genuinely adored, a unique sense of connection, a sense that they have found “the one”.

‘You can kid yourself that the darkest of bruises pales in the fierce light of the grand passion, and you can tell yourself – and the abuser will likely be telling you – that what went wrong was your fault.’

She encouraged women in that position to seek professional help, starting with therapy.

Ms Vardag rose to fame when she won a landmark divorce case in 2010 that recognised prenuptial agreements for the first time in the UK. Famous clients have included the Marchioness of Northampton.