Kelsey Ferguson and her ex-footballer dad Iain[/caption]
THE daughter of ex-Rangers and Hearts star Iain Ferguson has revealed she kept quiet about physical abuse from thug boyfriends — and wishes she hadn’t.
Kelsey Ferguson, 33, says she should have reported the former partners who attacked her to cops but admits she felt pressure to stay silent.
Kelsey says like many of those abused she felt pressured into not coming forward[/caption]
Kelsey Ferguson and her ex-footballer dad Iain, 61.[/caption]
Dr Susan Batchelor helped lead the research which has found repeat victims of abuse are less likely to come forward[/caption]
She told The Scottish Sun on Sunday: “You get used to keeping it to yourself. I thought if I didn’t speak about it, it didn’t exist. I was wrong.”
TikToker Kelsey told of her torment after a study revealed most repeat victims of violence do not go to police — even in cases involving serious injury and hospitalisation.
Kelsey, who spent 11 months in homeless shelters after fleeing an abusive relationship, urged others not to tolerate attacks in silence.
She said: “I seem to have a habit of getting involved with the wrong kind of men.
“I didn’t realise it until my pals and my mum sat me down and pointed it out.
“It’s been partner after partner. I didn’t want anybody to know what was happening. I wanted to deal with it myself.
“The thought of going to the police and into a court and not being believed is horrendous. Eventually, you just kind of get used to it.”
Anti-bullying campaigner Kelsey, of Uddingston, near Glasgow, is visiting schools to raise awareness of the mental health problems abuse can create.
She started giving talks after experiencing violence in her life which began when she, too, was a youngster.
The mum of one said she was harassed daily between classes and was once battered by a gang who pounced on her at a party, ripped off her underwear and hit her with kitchen utensils.
Violence spilled into her adult life and she once had to wear a hood to hide a black eye when dropping her 12-year-old son off at school.
Another brute broke her ankle after kicking away a chair she was sitting on.
A third lunged at her in a club when she refused to buy him and pals champagne.
Kelsey said: “I was attacked in the nightclub on my birthday and ended up in hospital.
“The police turned up and asked if I was okay. I told them I was fine and turned them away.
“It’s drummed into you when you’re a kid that you shouldn’t be a grass.”
The Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research says victims often spurn help due to a mistrust of authorities, social rules around grassing and the risks associated with being labelled a victim.
It found that 52 per cent of people who had been attacked more than once did not go to the police.
Dr Susan Batchelor, a senior lecturer at Glasgow University and study co-author, said: “It’s well established that violence is underreported to the police.
“Many of those we spoke to described having become accustomed to the continuous threat of violence, and of having to cope on their own as they couldn’t get formal support.”
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