Rachel Riley helps pal suffering domestic abuse

achel Riley has supported a friend suffering domestic abuse during lockdown.

The \'Countdown\' co-host has been helping her pal after she discovered she was a victim in her own home, and the TV presenter is now hoping to make a difference to more women facing the same issue.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror newspaper, she said: "I\'ve been supporting a friend who I didn\'t know was in a situation of domestic violence for some years.

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"While I can\'t go into specifics, I know Covid has made things more difficult. It\'s been so hard for women in her situation, without direct access to support services. I saw a poster that said, \'Domestic abusers have always worked from home,\' and that\'s so true."

The 34-year-old star is fronting the 2020 National Lottery Awards, which is supporting the Women\'s Trust, a London-based therapy and counselling charity for women who have experienced domestic abuse.

She said: "There\'s no outlet currently. People are trapped at home, the kids aren\'t at school and police and social services are running a limited service. These campaigners do an incredible job, they\'ve often had similar experiences and their own stories are hard to listen to.

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"So many survivors of domestic abuse will want to say a big thank you to those who\'ve gone the extra mile to help."

It comes after Rachel was attacked on Twitter by anti-semitic trolls, and now she is hoping to help change the toxicity of social media.

She explained: "I had my eyes opened by the anti-semitic attacks and am now patron of a non-profit organisation called the Centre for Countering Digital Hate.

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"We\'re dealing with a whole infrastructure of baddies using the internet to make money and sow hatred - be it anti-Muslim, anti-black, anti-Jewish, anti-vaccine or any other misinformation. A lot of people are intentionally misleading others to make money and social media companies do nothing."