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Amidst a troubling rise in domestic abuse cases, what role should retailers play to help staff in abusive relationships?

When former bank clerk Fiona Bowman was left badly injured by her husband, nurses called her manager Graham to the hospital. And he was left stunned by what he found.

“I didn’t have an inkling what Fiona was going through,” he said. “But when I saw her in hospital, her injuries were so bad she was unrecognisable. She eventually admitted she was suffering domestic abuse and seemed relieved to talk to someone she knew she could trust. I knew I had to help.”

Years of domestic abuse had left Fiona feeling ashamed and she had gone to pains to hide her suffering from friends, family and colleagues.

“You’ll tell people everything’s fine when it’s not,” she said, “and even though they might know you’re not really OK, they often don’t have the courage to ask more questions.”

Thanks to Graham’s help and the support of their employer’s HR team, Fiona was finally able to escape her violent marriage when she was transferred to another branch of the bank, 400 miles away.

“Having the support of my employers as I rebuilt my life meant the world to me,” she later said.

How many employers see protecting against domestic abuse as their responsibility?

A quarter of women and one in six men will be affected by domestic abuse in their lifetimes, according to the World Health Organization. And with one woman a week and one man a month losing their lives as a result, Fiona’s story highlights the critical role that employers can play in helping victims.

Yet, how many businesses actually see it as their responsibility to deal with something that may have very little to do with an employee’s working life? And how many other colleagues might be suffering in silence as a result? In Fiona’s case, the support she received from her employer not only helped to save and rebuild her life but gave her the confidence to reach out for help in a way she felt unable to with friends and family.

And this comes amidst a troubling rise in incidents, with the police and domestic abuse helplines reporting soaring rates of calls during the pandemic and cases due to spike once again this winter due to frictions caused by the cost-of-living crisis, the World Cup and the Christmas period. And at the Retail Trust, we are now providing more counselling services for retail workers in abusive relationships than ever before.

Certainly, one of the long-term, positive consequences of the pandemic was a much better focus on wellbeing at work, with the companies that are now coming out stronger being those with a real desire to put their people first and have more meaningful conversations about mental health.

But we believe employers don’t just have a responsibility to look out for their employees’ wellbeing while they’re at work. Being supportive extends to offering help when colleagues are going through a difficult time at home, too. And from a step as simple as displaying helpline numbers in staffrooms, to arranging an employee’s transfer to another branch, we in the industry can all do something to help retail workers facing domestic abuse.

Beyond simply being the right thing to do, with record numbers of job vacancies and our own research showing that a fifth of retail workers want to leave their jobs, retailers need to look at everything they can do to keep their workforce engaged and supported.

This will be a real focus of the Retail Trust’s next Leaders’ Summit in January, where we will be bringing together retail leaders from across the sector to discuss the big issues that are impacting their employees’ wellbeing right now.

The Retail Industry Against Domestic Abuse 

We’re holding this event because we believe that by working together as an industry, with a coalition of people, leaders, brands and organisations who are united in creating a healthy, happy and thriving workforce, retail has a real power to make a change.

And that’s why, in 2021, we launched the Retail Industry Against Domestic Abuse campaign in partnership with the Domestic Abuse Alliance and Dunelm to bring more help to domestic abuse victims working in retail.

“The home should be a place where you feel comfortable and safe, but we know this isn’t always the case,” Josie Dickinson, inclusion, diversity and wellbeing senior manager at Dunelm told us. “As part of RIADA, we feel a real sense of responsibility to educate and support our colleagues.”

And since launching the campaign last year, 30 other household name retailers like IKEA and B&Q have joined us to support their staff.

But whether you join us too, or are only beginning to look into the support you offer your staff facing domestic abuse, here’s three important steps you can take.

Create a domestic abuse policy to raise awareness among colleagues and make it easier for employees to speak out. A formal commitment to tackle abuse will make it easier for colleagues to speak up. It will raise awareness among staff, help them identify the signs to look out for, and show them how to offer help.

Educate managers to recognise the signs of abuse and understand how to approach colleagues and offer practical support. We offer a manager’s guide on how to spot abuse, and how to tackle it if you do, as well as training aimed at helping managers to understand the different types of abuse and how to recognise the signs.

Join the Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse (EIDA). By joining EIDA, employers can play a key part in tackling domestic abuse, and access reports into domestic abuse, materials to support managers, and handy toolkits. Membership is free.

For more information on the Retail Trust’s Leaders’ Summit on 11 January 2023, visit retailtrust.org.uk/leaders-summit

For more information on the Retail Industry Against Domestic Abuse campaign, visit retailtrust.org.uk/domestic-abuse

To find out more about Retail Trust and the services they provide to the retail industry, click here.

This article was also published in The Retailer, our quarterly online magazine providing thought-leading insights from BRC experts and Associate Members.