Cliff Notes
- MP Josh Babarinde reveals he endured childhood abuse, aiming to raise awareness to prevent similar experiences for children today.
- He advocates for legislative changes that categorise domestic abuse as a specific criminal offence, critiquing current policies that allow abusers to be released early.
- Babarinde emphasises the need for transparency regarding domestic abusers in the criminal justice system to better protect victims and their families.
MP recalls childhood abuse as he calls for law change to make domestic abuse a specific criminal offence
An MP who decided until recently to “never speak” about the abuse he suffered as a child has shared his harrowing story so that “no kid has to go through” what he did.
Josh Babarinde describes being physically abused by his mother’s former partner from the age of four, and remembers crying himself to sleep under the covers “hearing shouts, hearing screams and things smash”.
He says he became hypervigilant growing up and felt safe at school but “like he was treading on eggshells” in his own home.
The Eastbourne MP, who is also the Liberal Democrats’ justice spokesperson, says his experience has driven his politics. He is calling on the government to stop abusers “slipping through the net” and being released from prison early.
Opening up about his story in his twenties was “difficult” but looking back, Mr Babarinde says, he is “so proud of the resilience of that kid”.
The MP recently found his childhood diary containing Star Wars drawings alongside an entry he wrote from the bathroom. The diary, he recalls, wrote: “I’m really going to try to go (to the toilet) but I can’t. Oh my goodness, I’m gonna be in so much trouble, I’m going to get smacked so hard.”
Then an entry five minutes later: “I still haven’t done anything, I’m going to be in so much trouble.”
He says reading the entry reminded him of how “helpless” he felt.
“It was mortifying,” he says. “An abuser takes away your sense of self-worth.”
The 32-year-old is calling on the government to change the law to make domestic abuse a specific criminal offence. The change would mean, he argues, abusers can no longer effectively disguise their history under other offences like assault.
He says the Ministry of Justice’s early release scheme, which has seen thousands of prisoners released early to ease overcrowding, has failed to exclude domestic abusers despite government promises because there is no formal categorisation for offenders.
It is impossible, he argues, to know exactly how many domestic abusers are in prison currently so perpetrators are “slipping through the net” on early release.