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Domestic Violence Against Men: Lottery Winner Speaks Up

Last year, Matt Myles made headlines following his £1m lottery jackpot win. The 28 year old left his job as an electrical engineer and immediately began travelling the world.

Along with friends, Matt visited numerous countries, staying in only the best five star hotels. His spontaneous decision to up and leave following his lottery win caught the attention of many, who admired his free spirit attitude. Matt of course kept his growing social media fan base up to date, and continued to make the occasional headline along the way.

This week, unlike his usual light hearted, and adventurous news, Matt has been making headlines for a much more grave matter.

Following his travelling adventure, Matt returned home to Hereford where he began a relationship with a woman he had relations with prior to his trip. It was while in this relationship that he experienced domestic violence. He is now raising awareness of this in order to remove the stigma surrounding domestic violence towards males.

Last month his former partner was fine £650 plus costs after being convicted of two common assaults and criminal damage. Matt is now speaking out on the taboo of domestic violence against men and described his ordeal:

‘The lottery win was the most amazing thing that ever happened to me but ironically it also led to the worst thing that ever happened in my life – suffering domestic abuse at the hands of the woman I loved.”

According to a British Crime Survey in 2010, just over a quarter of men are victims of domestic violence incidents. Many campaigners claim that this figure could be higher due to the stigma surrounding domestic violence against males.

Understandably men find it difficult to speak up when faced with domestic violence but it’s important to get help. If you experience a situation where domestic violence gets out of hand, whether male or female, the police should always be your first port of call. There are also various places you can go to seek help, this could be in person or through seeking advice via telephone.