Strictly star suffered years of violent abuse that ‘changed her forever’

BBC presenter and Strictly Come Dancing star Nikita Kanda has shared her story about surviving ‘years’ of mental and physical abuse, after watching her mother go through the same.

In a candid social media post, Nikita, 29, explained how she felt a ‘sense of duty’ to open up about her experience to her 37,000 followers in the hope it might change the violence against women and girls epidemic in the UK.

In particular, Nikita highlighted the suffering of women in the Asian community who feel pressure to stay silent in violent households.

‘Sharing something quite personal on here today,’ she began on Instagram.

‘It’s something I’ve kept out of the public eye and even away from most people that know me, friends, colleagues, and followers but I feel a sense of duty to use my platform and use something negative that happened in my life for hopefully a positive change.

‘There is a major rise of violence against women and girls in this country which needs to just simply STOP! 2-3 women a week are dying because of this!

‘This may be a shock to many of you but I grew up in a very violent environment and witnessed and experienced a huge amount of abuse physically and mentally for years.

‘The trauma of watching the abuse happen severely to my incredible mum and then experiencing it myself is something I never thought I would get through.

‘It’s something that changes you forever, how you view the world and it doesn’t ever leave you no matter how much you try to forget.

‘I never wanted any woman, child or mother to experience what we have as a family. In the Asian community we’re taught to not talk about these topics, sweep it under the rug and hide it but I hope we can start speaking more freely, stamping out any judgement and just making sure women are safe.’

She then asked followers to visit @refugecharity on social media, and see the work they are doing.

‘You are not alone and I understand you,’ she concluded. ‘Thank you for listening.’

Nikita told The Independent she was ‘locked away in a little room’ as a child at the hands of a violent abuser.

‘The violence left me with a lot of issues,’ she told the publication. ‘I didn’t know who I was, what was right, what was wrong, and I remember just feeling really angry and then emotional and confused.

‘When you go through things like that, it mentally scars and traumatises you.

‘I still get flashbacks now. Sometimes you think you are OK and then sometimes it just randomly pops back into your head.’

The BBC Asian Network Breakfast presenter also said she has friends in her community who stay in abusive households because they are afraid of what others in their circle will think or say if they speak out.

She revealed her friend’s partner was so violent he broke her ribs, while another of her friends was locked away in a room, injected with drugs and forbidden from going to the toilet.

Nikita is warning women in the Asian communities to keep their eyes open for their friends, and notice any small mentions of abuse at home such as their partner getting angry, as many women will not speak out.

Last year the UK government labelled violence against women and girls as a national threat.

According to Refuge data, the police receive a domestic abuse-related call every 30 seconds, and one in four women in England and Wales will experience domestic abuse over their lifetime.

Every five days, one woman is killed by an abusive partner or ex in England and Wales.