Belle King is in jeopardy since her husband Tom is still torturing her in private. However, the Emmerdale plot brings to light a horrifying truth for victims of domestic violence.
The Emmerdale executives have acted as a mirror for society, revealing yet another actual tragedy that victims and survivors of domestic abuse must deal with.
ITV has revisited the subject of coercive control in another rival Yorkshire-based soap opera, Belle and Tom King’s marriage, three years after investigating it in Coronation Street. After a ten-year hiatus, the evil Carl King’s son returned to shake the community of the same name last year, with newcomer James Chase taking over from Mark Flanagan.
Viewers of the long-running soap opera cheered when Tom returned to the Dales and resumed his romantic relationship with Belle Dingle, played by Eden Taylor-Draper. Belle had recently split from Ellis Chapman. However, alarm bells went off-screen as Tom gradually revealed his true colors, from his erratic behavior to his eagerness to commit.
‘Love-bombing’ and ‘gaslighting’ – the early warning signs
Tom’s outburst following the theft of his car in the Dales raised the first doubts about Belle’s safety. Regular viewers may recall that after what appeared to be a beating, Belle discovered her partner bleeding.
Tom continued and rejected her or the police’s assistance before becoming aggressive toward her, even though she insisted on contacting the police, especially because she couldn’t find his car. Concerns further intensified when the handsome man proposed. Belle, determined not to divert her family’s attention from helping a traumatized Lydia Dingle following her rape, turned down the offer, which caused her lover to strike out at her violently.
Many viewers pleaded with Belle to open her eyes off-screen as red flags appeared everywhere, with some calling Tom’s seeming compassion “love-bombing.” A notable comment from a fan said, “Mixed signals from evil Tom love bombing (in public) & confusing Belle.” “Can’t wait for Cain to find out that Toxic Tom is an abusive, gaslighting control freak,” said another, echoing the sentiments of numerous soap opera viewers who were hoping for Tom’s impending demise.’Love-bombing’ and ‘gaslighting’ – the early warning signs
Tom’s outburst following the theft of his car in the Dales raised the first doubts about Belle’s safety. Regular viewers may recall that after what appeared to be a beating, Belle discovered her partner bleeding.
Tom continued and rejected her or the police’s assistance before becoming aggressive toward her, even though she insisted on contacting the police, especially because she couldn’t find his car. Concerns further intensified when the handsome man proposed. Belle, determined not to divert her family’s attention from helping a traumatized Lydia Dingle following her rape, turned down the offer, which caused her lover to strike out at her violently.
Many viewers pleaded with Belle to open her eyes off-screen as red flags appeared everywhere, with some calling Tom’s seeming compassion “love-bombing.” A notable comment from a fan said, “Mixed signals from evil Tom love bombing (in public) & confusing Belle.” “Can’t wait for Cain to find out that Toxic Tom is an abusive, gaslighting control freak,” said another, echoing the sentiments of numerous soap opera viewers who were hoping for Tom’s impending demise.
A different viewer appeared to be distraught when they said: “Watching what that f****** Tom’s doing to Belle, recognising every single sign of the manipulative abusive c*** that he is, the guilt-tripping & gaslighting, & her being totally oblivious, hits FAR too close to home.”
An overlooked and ‘normalised’ reality
Tom has consistently put Belle down throughout their most recent relationship, humiliating her in the process and holding her responsible for her family’s strange activities around the hamlet. Not only did Belle not realize that he was taking advantage of her, but he also took advantage of her own mental health problems, which he used to maintain his personable and amiable persona. Belle had also mistakenly believed that their marriage would succeed.
For viewers of the soap opera, this was enough, along with the unexplained passing of Tom’s mother Colleen King, to conclude the romance was doomed. Bosses, however, took it a step further when Tom’s mistreatment and persistent attempts to dominate Belle—whom he finally married in a tumultuous ceremony—took an unexpected turn.
Tom’s mistreatment of Belle has gotten worse in the most horrifying ways possible, going from hitting her friend Vinny Dingle to forcing her to have sex and even shattering an urn that held the remains of her late mother Lisa. However, in a surprising turn of events, the Emmerdale executives have addressed the topics of coercive control and technology-enabled abuse, with Tom using a tracker to monitor his partner’s every step across the town. A crucial reminder that domestic abuse can occasionally be difficult to identify.
Coercive control, a kind of psychological abuse, is defined by Refuge, the biggest domestic violence organization for women in the UK, as “an act, or a pattern of acts, of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation that abusers use to harm, punish or frighten survivors.” It is a deliberate pattern of behavior that is unrelated to any one experience.”
Those who have survived relationships marred by coercive control patterns have reported serious negative effects on their mental health, such as eating disorders, anxiety, depressive or low mood, and thoughts of suicide. This may also have an impact on their personal life because of the perpetrators’ tendency to isolate them, as seen by Tom, who has become more and more envious of Belle’s time spent with her friends, family, and coworkers.
However, abusers who utilize technology-enabled techniques and tools to manipulate, harass, or threaten their victims are said to be engaging in technology-facilitated abuse. This may be accomplished by phone hacking, cyberstalking, or utilizing social media, webcams, and other technologies to hurt or control someone. According to Emma Pickering, this is only one form of abuse that has become more common as technology advances.
Emma Pickering, Head of Tech-facilitated Abuse and Economic Empowerment at Refuge, who collaborated with Emmerdale on the plot, in an exclusive interview with The Daily Mirror on the prevalence of tech-facilitated abuse.
“Since 2017,” she informed us at the outset, “my team and I have been supporting survivors in cases of complex tech abuse for a number of years.” And I’d say that right now it’s present in every one of our cases. These range from your more basic risks, like harassment and social media stalking, to your more complicated cases, like tracking, monitoring, and surveillance stock, as well as intimate image-based abuse (like deep fakes).
Emma continued by pointing out that the situation was becoming more “normalized,” with younger generations exchanging social media accounts, whereabouts, and passwords without reluctance. “We’re starting to see a trend of normalisation especially with young people around sharing location, sharing passwords, sharing messages and accounts” , she stated.
“I believe that because of how normalized it has become in our culture, we probably don’t address it as an issue sufficiently. Thus, I believe that this tale aids in the audience’s comprehension of the idea that Tom is doing improperly.” Emma then made an appeal for unity over possible victims of domestic abuse.
The importance of providing a safe space
When ‘Ingrid’ first saw her ex-partner ‘Martin’ at a pub at the age of 21, he immediately won her over. During our conversation, she recounted, “He was kind and gentle, he made me laugh and would tell me I was beautiful every single day.” “Within a week, he told me he loved me.”
However, as soon as the couple went public with their relationship, Ingrid claimed that things had changed. She said, “He stopped sending me loving messages and started insulting me and telling me that my friends hated me.” Because of him, I lost a lot of friends during our relationship. They were becoming tired of the turmoil and the fact that I continued to live with him.”
She went to a mental health centre to get the psychological assistance she so desperately needed, even though she acknowledged Martin had never physically harmed her. I was unable to imagine my life without him because he gave me the impression that there was something wrong with me. We were simply going through a difficult moment, so I thought it would end when I left the hospital, but it just continued, and I felt deep down that I couldn’t spend my life with someone like that.”
Sadly, a lot of victims of domestic violence observe that they frequently find it difficult to escape their abuser’s control. This is similar to Belle Dingle, who, rather than leaving Tom King before it was too late, walked down the aisle beside him in the hopes of a pleasant and new beginning.
Like many other victims of domestic abuse, Belle has since stayed silent about her experience and has become more and more alone—a fact Emma and Refuge are determined to change.
“Family and friends are essential from an intimate standpoint because it often takes the person a very long time to feel confident enough to leave,” Emma stressed. And there are a plethora of reasons behind it, including financial difficulties, concerns for their children, fear of being found, fear of consequences, potential blackmail, and much more.”
Therefore, the survivor faces several hazards while trying to end a relationship responsibly. Furthermore, I believe that friends and relatives might get really irritated at times. “I’ve given you advice, you know it’s wrong, why are you still there?” is all that goes through their minds.
In an effort to stop additional violence and isolation, Emma has advised prospective victims of domestic abuse and the people in their circles to stay in constant contact with one another.
“Always be the friend or family member that that listens provides a safe space for them to disclose, give some advice, help safeguard, help signpost them to agencies like refuge and how to make sure that they get the correct safety advice” , she advised. “So if they do leave, they do it in a safe way and they’re not located even on a larger scale.”
Emma highlighted the need of educating people about domestic violence and said that there are several ways this may occur: “understand the myths around domestic abuse, understand the support, understand ways to signpost, understand how you can collect evidence.” She admonished, saying, “The most damaging thing that you can do is be dismissive.” in another breath.
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