Woman helps others who experience domestic abuse

A woman who said she was too scared and anxious to leave her house after being domestically abused by her partner is helping women and girls who experience similar abuse.

Lorrae Smith, from Surrey, was in a violent and controlling relationship from the age of 15 to 20, but after counselling and support from a local charity, she qualified as an onboard train supervisor with Southern Rail.

She said: "When I think back to when I was younger, after what happened to me, I couldn't hold a conversation, I couldn't even hold eye contact. I would just look at the floor."

Smith, 39, said her role now allowed her to feel "empowered" to help female passengers.

She said she was told by her previous partner what she could wear and who she could see.

"When that relationship ended, my anxiety started. It crippled me, I was too afraid to leave the house. Loud noises, even the sound of a train beeping would frighten me," Smith said.

She is now happily married and has four children. And she said it was her husband who persuaded her to "get out of her comfort zone" and apply for a job on the railway.

She joined Southern in 2020, working on platforms at Caterham and Purley.

"Even working on platforms for five years, I was probably still hiding in my shell and hiding behind my paddle and my whistle," she said.

Smith said that she gradually rebuilt her confidence with the help of both Redhill family support charity Welcare and the women she met in the rail industry.

After four years, she successfully applied to be an onboard train supervisor.

"Working on the railway, I have come across females that have not been in very nice situations. After what happened to me for all those years, I rely on body language and tone to pick up on situations like that at work," she said.

The mother-of-four said she employed techniques to investigate when she thought that something was "wrong", including remaining in a train coach for longer and pretending to do smoke detector or extra security checks.

"I do anything to make it not obvious. Sometimes it can be worse if you intervene for a domestic violence victim when they get home. I know that from experience," she said.

"I will never jeopardise somebody's wellbeing, but I will be there as a support for them."

Smith also works with female colleagues to help build their confidence, including platform assistant Jasma Mangaden, who described her as an "inspiring mentor".

"I had an incident when I was locking up the station and there was a really drunk person looking at me and making me feel uncomfortable," Mangaden said.

"Luckily, Lorrae was there and took me home. You can always talk to her, and she always puts other people first."

Mangaden said Smith had helped her progress her career since she joined Southern, helping with her feelings of loneliness when she first arrived in England from India.

"She is inspiring, confident and she always fights for the safety of women," Mangaden added.

"You need someone like that in your life. She is a very strong and brave woman to use her story to help others."

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