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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

I have NEVER said that I am relieved my mum killed my dad. This is a very clear distortion of my words and it is actual putrid bile. I have contacted the Daily Mirror.

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

The Unthinkable has already reached more people than I ever imagined. Thank you to every reader who’s messaged, shared and told me this helped them name what they went through. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 🧍🏼👩🏼‍🤝‍👨🏻🧍🏼‍♂️🏠 Out Now ➡️ www.hachette.co.uk/titles/david...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

The Unthinkable is journey of a child excavating his own past, and his mother’s before him, to give an understanding to an unthinkable act of violence, so it never happens again. 🧍🏼👩🏼‍🤝‍👨🏻🧍🏼‍♂️🏠 The Unthinkable - OUT NOW ➡️ www.hachette.co.uk/titles/david...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

My mum killed my dad after decades of his abuse. I fought to set her free. But once I did, I realised I needed to free myself too. I spoke with @mrjamesob.bsky.social about my book #TheUnthinkable + the unseen impact of coercive control on children. 🎧 Listen ➡️ www.globalplayer.com/catchup/lbc/...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

“I had no idea Mum had a little plastic stool behind the passenger seat and intended to drive to Beachy Head… and throw herself off.” This week, The Mail serialised my memoir The Unthinkable, the story to free my mother Sally Challen, and then myself. ➡️ archive.ph/2025.06.11-0...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Glad more print runs are underway! Blown away by the messages and responses so far to The Unthinkable, a book that’s fast become meaningful with many who’ve reached out. This is what it’s all about. 🧍🏼👫🧍🏼‍♂️🏠 #TheUnthinkable ➡️ www.hachette.co.uk/titles/david...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

I’ve also written a short reflection this morning on what it took to write The Unthinkable. It’s about absence, fear, and finally handing my story over... On Subtack NOW. ➡️ open.substack.com/pub/davidcha...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Happy publication day to… The Unthinkable!!! 📚 🎉 🥂📚🎉 🥂 My mum killed my dad, I helped free her from prison. This is the story I walked, and what it cost. I never thought I’d write it and now, it’s out in the world! 🧍🏼👫🧍🏼‍♂️🏠 🚨 Order NOW! ➡️ www.hachette.co.uk/titles/david...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

#TheUnthinkable is out TOMORROW and just made the top 100 books on Amazon! 🖤🤍🖤🤍 🧍🏼👩🏼‍🤝‍👨🏻🧍🏼‍♂️🏠 Pre-order ➡️ www.hachette.co.uk/titles/david...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

So lovely to catch up with Ranvir Singh on Lorraine this morning to talk about #TheUnthinkable. Hearing from early readers who’ve been deeply moved by the book means everything. It makes my journey to write it worth it. 📺 Catch-up here ➡️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-Ni...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

The Unthinkable is out THURSDAY. 📚 Pre Order Now ➡️ www.hachette.co.uk/titles/david...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

Ahead of my interview with Laura Kuenssberg this morning, we spoke about my memoir The Unthinkable - about coercive control and why we still aren’t doing enough to confront this violence. It airs this morning 9am, on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, BBC One. 📚 #TheUnthinkable is out THURSDAY.

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

Catch me on Laura Kuenssberg tomorrow where I’ll be talking about my book The Unthinkable, out Thursday. ➡️ www.hachette.co.uk/titles/david...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

Mel’s support has meant so much since we met during my campaign to free my mother. Recognising me in the cloak room of a fundraiser, she called out my name then proceed to sit me down and ask what she could do to change things. She knew everything about our story, and her empathy blew me away 💜

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

Honoured to have my first quote from Mel B, whose support has meant so much since we met during my campaign to free my mother. Her courage and solidarity as a fellow survivor continues to inspire me. THE UNTHINKABKE - Out 5th June 🧍🏼👩🏼‍🤝‍👨🏻🧍🏼‍♂️🏠 Pre-Order Now ➡️ www.hachette.co.uk/titles/david...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

You can pre-order my book, The Unthinkable, out 5 June (NEXT WEEK!) 📖 Here ➡️ www.hachette.co.uk/titles/david...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Great day at @hayfestival.bsky.social w/Harriet Wistrich + Samira Ahmed talking about my new book The Unthinkable! Hard to believe how far I’ve come, from the lost man who freed his mum from prison after she killed my dad. We gave voice to the abuse she endured, and countless many still suffer 💜

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

What a moment. I never imagined holding my own book. For years I gave voice to others, but this is the first time I’ve told my own. This is the story of what it took to name abuse and what led to… The Unthinkable Out 5 June 2025 🧍🏼👩🏼‍🤝‍👨🏻🧍🏼‍♂️🏠 Pre-order ➡️ www.hachette.co.uk/titles/david...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

Lucy was 13. Groomed, isolated, coercively controlled. But the law says it’s not domestic abuse, because she was under 16. While boys are radicalised by violent misogyny online, girls are left unprotected. This is state failure. ➡️ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

My mother killed my father. The justice system saw a murder. I saw years of abuse and stood by her to lead a campaign that freed her from prison. Now I’ve written the book about what that took. And what it cost. 🧍🏼👩🏼‍🤝‍👨🏻🧍🏼‍♂️🏠 Out 5 June Pre-order here ➡️ www.hachette.co.uk/titles/david...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

Is this what female empowerment looks like? An 11-min jolly to wash the image of a male billionaire wrecking the planet, while women, who suffer most in poverty, war, and environmental disaster, are left behind.

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

I grew up in a picture-perfect home, but something was unspoken, unseen, and quietly shaping everything. This is the story of what it took to name it, and what led to… THE UNTHINKABLE Out 5 June 2025 🧍🏼👩🏼‍🤝‍👨🏻🧍🏼‍♂️🏠 Pre-order here ➡️ www.hachette.co.uk/titles/david...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰. 🧍🏼👫🏼🧍🏻‍♂️🏠

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

Dr James Rowlands’ new book, out 28 March, explores domestic abuse-related deaths and how reviews can drive change. It’s the first full-length study of Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews in England and Wales. An urgent and vital contribution. ➡️ www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Kyle Clifford sentenced to a whole-life order. Mr Justice Bennathan said "Clifford will never be released from prison for his callous offending." ➡️ www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Thinking of the family of Carol, Louise and Hannah Hunt today as Kyle Clifford is due to be sentenced for their murders and the rape of Louise. ➡️ www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crim...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Sir Jim Ratcliffe asked Man Utd women’s captain Katie Zelem what she did at the club. She was the captain. She led them to their first FA Cup. An England international. Another powerful man treating women’s football as a burden. His misogyny is holding the women’s team back.

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

This BBC headline should say ‘fined for SEXUAL ASSAULT’, however they know exactly what they’re doing here… Softening what happened into “kissing player” downplays ASSAULT. It invites debate, doubt, and minimisation. Words matter. Call it what it is. ➡️ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Sexual harassment isn’t just about what one man does, it’s about what every other man chooses not to do. Looking away. Staying silent. That’s how these perpetrators thrive, because men let them.

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

“I didn’t feel it was my place to answer that question myself.” You employ women. You have a family full of women. And you genuinely thought it wasn’t your place to speak about sexism in your own industry? Really?? ➡️ www.thetimes.com/life-style/f...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

“I certainly wouldn’t report again.” Rape survivor Amelia Price says she will be less protected when her abuser is freed this year than before his trial. No non-harassment order was imposed. She is urging NHOs to be mandatory in domestic abuse cases. ➡️ www.bbc.com/news/article...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Labour’s pledge to deliver 14,000 new prison places MUST see significant investment in women’s centres. WC’s have a proven track record of delivering results that stems from providing a holistic specialist approach to tackling how and why women offend. ➡️ womeninprison.org.uk/media/downlo...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

The below report by @womensbudgetgrp.bsky.social highlights the vast savings that can be made by investing in WC's, the financial cost of the current model and its failure to address the root causes of women’s offending, leading to a ‘revolving door’ of imprisonment. ➡️ wbg.org.uk/wp-content/u...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Best news of the year so far: £1.2m seized from Andrew Tate will go to support victims of violence against women and girls. Poetic Justice...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

When bankers crashed the economy in 2008, working people paid the price through Tory austerity that gutted services. In 2012, senior Tories called British workers “the worst idlers.” Now, after 14 years of failure, another Tory says we need a “better work ethic.” Look in the mirror.

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

Tory MP lectures Britain on ‘need to better work ethic’ after 14 years of his party running said nation into the ground.

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

‘He targeted us because we were women and girls, vulnerable and easy prey.’ - Leanne Lucas The murders of Elsie, Bebe, and Alice show how extreme misogyny drives violence yet remains overlooked as extremism. We must confront this reality. READ NOW: davidchallen.substack.com/p/misogyny-t...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

Men like David Davis MP, who this week said, “He was a psychopath, and there will always be such people, and there’s a limit to what we can do to stop them,” excuse inaction while ignoring the reality: the victims are overwhelmingly women and girls. Complacency perpetuates harm.

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

This was a class of young girls at a Taylor Swift dance and yoga class, chosen because they were girls, because they were vulnerable. That cannot go unspoken, nor denied. I refuse it. Misogyny is a form of extremism.

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

Bebe. Elsie. Alice. Their lives were taken in Southport, but their stories must drive change. My latest Substack explores systemic failures, violent escalation, and why extreme misogyny is at the heart of these tragedies. Read Now: ➡️ davidchallen.substack.com/p/misogyny-t...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Farming rage engagement from a horrific case like this to push capital punishment is vile. I, for one, shouldn’t have to remind people there’s a reason we don’t have it: irretrievable injustices. Axel Rudakubana will rightly never be released.

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Three women were murdered, yet this headline names their father instead of CAROL, HANNAH and LOUISE HUNT, while reducing their killer to a 'control freak’, thus trivialising coercive control and shielding 'ordinary' men from accountability. Media must do better.

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Lest we forget, Rebekah Brooks was once arrested for assaulting her then-partner, Ross Kemp. Kemp sustained a minor cut but declined medical treatment. Brooks was detained for eight hours and later released without charge, calling it ‘a silly row.’ #MenYouAreNotAlone

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

This is on the nose. For years, Musk has flirted in far-right symbols and memes - tweeting Nazi soldiers, comparing Trudeau to Hitler, and now this. It’s not belief, it’s trolling for attention, dripping with provocations of incel and manosphere cultures ⬇️

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

“The time for accountability has arrived.” News Group execs “deleted 30M+ emails, made false denials,” and “lied under oath” to cover up wrongdoing. Sun owner issues apology for intrusion into Prince Harry’s private life. ➡️ www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

New Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s Shifting the Scales report exposes systemic failings in the justice system’s response to domestic abuse. Key recommendations including improving data collection, funding support services, strengthening collaboration, expanding victim protections + managing perps.

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

The team at CDCH say Stella can be nervous meeting new people but those caring for her say this has not stopped her forming "loving and trusting" relationships with staff, who describe her as "the perfect mix of energy and love".

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

Tech bros and their 'masculine energy' all goosed up and ready to kiss the ring...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Today’s announcement by the Home Secretary to tackle grooming gangs, with Baroness Casey’s audit, is a vital step to uncover the true scale of child exploitation and help survivors find justice. Home Sec Statement: ➡️ www.gov.uk/government/s...

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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

This cannot be the future for domestic abuse-related suicides. Police failed Kiena and now the justice system fails her. Ryan Wellings shattered Kiena's humanity, leaving her so tormented she felt no choice but to leave this earth. Her daughter deserved a future with her mother.

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