During their relationship, Lisa’s ex-partner was controlling. He kept her at home where he was emotionally and physically abusive towards her, including once attacking her with a machete. These days, he runs protests outside houses of multiple occupancy that he claims are housing asylum seekers.
He coordinates groups of men to patrol the streets of his town, claiming to protect women but often using these patrols to profile and target men of colour. He’s a bully in every way,” she says. Lisa is one of seven women who have told the Guardian they are survivors of domestic abuse carried out by key figures in the anti-immigration street patrol movement.
All have chosen to come forward to make the public aware of the patterns of violence behind this new form of activism. At least 14 street patrol groups have been set up in towns and cities across the UK, receiving tens of thousands of pounds in public donations, as well as political support. The deputy leader of Reform UK, Richard Tice, has previously called for more patrols to take place.
Wearing hi-vis jackets and, in some cases, stab-proof vests and carrying handcuffs, these groups of men aim to be a visible presence conducting patrols through their towns and cities. Some have used their patrols to target men of colour, stopping and questioning individuals and demanding to see identity documents. Despite using rhetoric of protecting women, the Guardian has been shown evidence that indicates the severity of the abuse carried out by men in these groups.
Some of the women we have spoken to have been granted restraining or non-molestation orders. One was forced to move towns with the support of the police for her own safety. It’s all about power and control in everything he does,” says Lisa, who met and began a relationship with a far-right activist when she was 16.
He is one of the main figures behind the branch of the Raising the Colours movement in his town. The far-right, anti-migrant campaign has hung flags from lamp-posts across the UK under the guise of “patriotism”. Early in their relationship, Lisa’s partner became abusive and controlling, sometimes preventing her from leaving the house.
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