Poor Nigella

Nigella Lawson and her man got plenty of publicity last week: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22935683

Very little action followed, though. He got a caution - what's a caution to someone as rich as Charles Saatchi, I wonder? To add insult to injury for her, he was quoted in the newspapers as saying he'd accepted the caution on legal advice to get the whole business off the front pages of the papers. In other words, he shut the talk down because he could afford to hire a good lawyer.

Here's an interesting question: has Nigella Lawson decided she's had enough and left him? You can only hope so. 

A few quotes about domestic violence. One from a relative of mine: You don't know what happens in any family once they shut their front door. 

From a social worker with years of experience in this area: it happens in every walk of life, in leafy suburbs the same as in council houses, in gay as well as straight relationships. (You'll notice she didn't say the victims are always women.)

From a friend who admitted he had been guilty of domestic violence: There's no such thing as a person who only hits their partner - if there are kids, they'll attack them too. 

All good reasons for anyone who is in an abusive relationship to move out and move on. In the past, there were reasons to stay put and put up with it: family disapproval (you've made your bed...), lack of financial support, misplaced loyalty, the reluctance of the police to get involved, etc. It's less obvious why people would put up with this now. 

Maybe Nigella could lead the way by asserting her independence.