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David Challen

@davidchallen.bsky.social
2.7K followers 1.3K following 516 posts

Domestic Abuse Campaigner | Survivor | Advisor | Speaker | Writer | Freed my mum #SallyChallen in a landmark #CoerciveControl case, #SallysLaw ⚖️ linktr.ee/DavidChallen

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Reposted by David Challen
Southall Black Sisters (SBS) @sbsisters.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Honoured to host @davidchallen.bsky.social for powerful discussions on tackling VAWG. David’s experience brings vital insight, and we’re grateful for his campaigns support on sentencing reforms, including abuse-related suicides and Banaz’s Law, strengthening our collective fight for justice.
Left to right: Hannana Siddiqui, David Challen, and Selma Taha, standing in front of the Southall Black Sisters banner.Left to right: Hannana Siddiqui, David Challen, and Selma Taha, standing with their fists raised in front of the Southall Black Sisters banner.
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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
Ours was the kind of family no one suspected. But behind closed doors, the harm escalated until it changed all our lives forever. Ten years on from coercive control becoming a crime, how far have we come? My piece in @observeruk.bsky.social
observer.co.uk
David Challen: the torment that drove my mother to kill m...
The writer reflects on a crime which shaped his own life, 10 years after coercive control was made a crime
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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
I’m also acutely wary of how male role model conversations, whether you like it or not, can often devalue the idea that men raised by single parent mothers can (and regularly do) become empathetic valuable members of society that thrive.
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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
Grateful for men like Gareth progressing this discussion. Vital to note however that we can’t build better masculinity in silos. My empathy, like many men’s, came from women. Role models help, but this work must be done with women, not apart from them.
observer.co.uk
Gareth Southgate: ‘The need for mentorship has never been...
A lack of positive male role models means too many young men are falling behind. How do we fix the problem?
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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 · 11/06/2025
Huge thanks to the @glamour.com editorial team for picking #TheUnthinkable as one their must-read’s this month! ‘David dedicated his life to sharing his mother's story – now it's time to listen to his.’
glamourmagazine.co.uk
11 best new books you need to read in June 2025, according to GLAMOUR editors
Get ahead of #BookTok.
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Reposted by David Challen
The Employers' Initiative on Domestic Abuse (EIDA) @eidaorg.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Any UK employer can become EIDA members for free. Membership gives your organisation access to the tools and resources needed to take effective action on #domesticabuse. This includes a domestic abuse policy template, legal guidance, and communications resources. www.eida.org.uk/membership
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Reposted by David Challen
The Employers' Initiative on Domestic Abuse (EIDA) @eidaorg.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
We are kicking off our BlueSky journey by introducing EIDA: We are a UK charity and membership network for employers. Our mission is for every UK employer to take effective action on #domesticabuse. DA affects 1 in 5 employees in the UK, and we can all play a part in changing that.
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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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Reposted by David Challen
Maya Oppenheim @mayaoppenheim.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
2025's political climate is wreaking havoc on online dating. My time on the dating apps opened my eyes to this. I've written about this for @mashable.com in a story which includes personal anecdotes & interviews with experts & women with first-hand experience 💘📱 mashable.com/article/2025...
mashable.com
2025's political climate is wreaking havoc on online dating
More women are refusing to date men with opposing political beliefs.
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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 · 02/06/2025
‘David wrote the book [The Unthinkable] to “give voice to what it’s like to grow up in a home where domestic abuse wasn’t the word – it was coercive control and it didn’t appear on my TV screens”.’ But, a decade on, "we're not tackling it enough", he added.
bbc.com
'Mum killed dad with a hammer but I fought for years to free her"
David Challen says abuse was "normalised" in his home before his mother killed his father.
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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
I sat down with The Sunday Times to talk about The Unthinkable, my memoir of surviving coercive control, fighting to free my mother, and giving voice to the children who grow up unseen inside abusive homes.
thetimes.com
Dad wasn’t a monster, but I don’t blame my mother for killing him
The son of Sally Challen, who bludgeoned her controlling and abusive husband to death, says writing a book helped him come to terms with what he saw
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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 · 30/05/2025
“There’s mental scars which are so difficult to heal.” A decade since coercive control became a crime, survivors are still left with scars no one sees. 🔺 Sussex: 7,000+ reports, just 3% charged 🔺 Surrey: 3,000+ reports, just 7% charged This is why I continue to speak out. Unacceptable failure ⬇️
bbc.com
Coercive control remains major issue in South East
The BBC looks into prosecution rates 10 years after coercive control became a criminal offence.
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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
Prosecutors have authorised 21 charges against Andrew and Tristan Tate, including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking.” Thinking of the brave women who bravely came forward to help hold these violent men accountable.
bbc.co.uk
Andrew and Tristan Tate to face 21 charges in UK, prosecutors say
Prosecutors in the UK confirm they have authorised 21 charges against Andrew and Tristan Tate, including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking.
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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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Reposted by David Challen
Maya Oppenheim @mayaoppenheim.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
Discussions about the rise of misogynistic influencers are everywhere but most conversations fall short on solutions. This is why I was pleased to visit a youth centre in Wolverhampton doing vital work with young men to tackle this problem. More info in my story: observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
observer.co.uk
Saving the lost boys: finding the antidote to toxic influencers | The Observer
The lure of online misogyny and violence is damaging vulnerable teens. A new group of youth centres is determined to turn the tide
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Reposted by David Challen
Maya Oppenheim @mayaoppenheim.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
📣 FIRST POST ALERT 📣: I pretty much gave up on Twitter a while ago - tweeting less and less in recent years - but once it was a place which brought me joy (& some anguish). It was a place I could share articles I wrote, as well as my own observations about life: some tweets funnier than others.
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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Thanks, Helen! Great feeling, yes x
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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 · 23/04/2025
Thanks Purna! ❤️
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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Gisèle Pelicot to sue Paris Match magazine for publishing covert photos. Her lawyers called it “shocking” given her trial laid bare 3,000 images of abuse. Hasn't Gisèle had enough secret non-consensual images taken of her?! Now tone-deaf tabloids are hiding in bushes taking pap shots of her???
theguardian.com
Gisèle Pelicot to sue Paris Match magazine for invasion of privacy
French weekly published pictures of Pelicot with a man, described as her ‘companion’, walking in the street
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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
The Menendez brothers were abused by the man they killed. Like my own family’s case, where our father’s abuse tore through our lives, this is not about denying harm, it’s about understanding it. Justice must evolve with what we now know about trauma.
bbc.co.uk
Erik and Lyle Menendez resentencing hearing to begin in Los Angeles
The pair hope to take a step towards release - decades after killing their parents in a high-profile US case.
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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
When men in misogynistic institutions don’t challenge rape culture, they aren’t neutral… they’re complicit. The cycle of misogyny won’t break until men speak up, especially in the boys clubs where silence protects power.
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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
A Met officer called a rape victim a “c***” who “probably got raw dogged in a park… and regrets it.” He was sacked. But 3 junior officers who stayed silent kept their jobs. One said he didn’t report it, because he saw the man as a ‘role model’?!
standard.co.uk
Three Met officers in WhatsApp group mocking rape victim keep jobs
PCs Rafi Kentafi Lindill, James Humphrey and Craig Hawkins did not challenge their supervisor
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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 · 11/04/2025
Glad to read that more than 3,300 pupils in Northumberland were taught how to recognise coercive control last year. NDAS, which helped 550 victims, says Holly Newton’s murder shows why this education is vital. “Even the strongest can become victims.”
bbc.com
Northumberland children taught signs of domestic abuse
More than 3,300 pupils in Northumberland learn how to spot signs of abuse and controlling behaviour.
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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
A woman skips a few events her husband attends and suddenly the world decides they must be divorcing. Michelle Obama has to publicly justify having her own calendar, because apparently a “grown woman” making choices for herself is still unthinkable.
bbc.co.uk
Michelle Obama dismisses rumours she is divorcing Barack Obama
The former first lady says people were wrong to make assumptions that the couple were getting a divorce.
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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Bluesky post (300 characters, verified): Female MoD workers say sexual harassment remains unaddressed despite 2023 whistleblower warnings. Prospect union calls for an independent inquiry as confidence in action and reporting falls sharply.
theguardian.com
Female defence workers say sexual harassment not addressed after MoD allegations
Exclusive: Union calls for inquiry more than a year after whistleblowers wrote to department about alleged abuse
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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
"I’m so pleased to finally be able to share what, for most of my life, felt unspeakable. This book meant facing a past I’d left buried for years. What started as a story about freeing my mother became a mission to put into words what so many families endure, but never speak about."
thebookseller.com
Brazen acquires 'moving' book by domestic-abuse campaigner David Challen
Brazen has acquired The Unthinkable by David Challen, the story of how Challen campaigned to free his mother from prison.
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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Thank you Kelly, I greatly appreciate this and look forward to sharing more about it! x
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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
A serving Met police officer has been charged with four counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration and one of sexual assault. PC Dion Arnold, now suspended, was remanded in custody and will appear at Guildford crown court on 1 May.
theguardian.com
Serving Met police officer charged with rape and other sexual offences
PC Dion Arnold charged with four counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration and one of sexual assault
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David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰. 🧍🏼👫🏼🧍🏻‍♂️🏠
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