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SARAH VINE: The world's full of abused women. Unless some radical evidence emerges, after reading Giovanni's interview I don't believe Amanda Abbington is one of them
When women are victims of abuse, be it sexual, violent or coercive in nature, it is important that people believe them. It can take months, sometimes years, to find the courage to step forward.
Reading my colleague Katie Hind’s exclusive interview with Strictly professional Giovanni Pernice, in which he details the Kafkaesque situation he found himself in with Amanda Abbington, I’m afraid I couldn’t help feeling a sense that, in some ways, that is what his dance partner seems to have done. In pursuing her case against him to the nth degree, she has not only potentially called into question her own credibility as a woman and a reliable witness, but also risked undermining the experiences of countless other women who, either now or at some time in the future, may find themselves in real situations of genuine abuse. Was she saying one thing to his face because she was scared of him and trying to keep him on side (something that often happens in cases of abuse, and which can often undermine a woman’s testimony), or was she playing a game?
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