Brother speaks to world summit about domestic abuse

Two brothers’ bid to raise awareness of the signs of domestic abuse after their father murdered their mum and sister has reached the international stage.

Luke Hart was one of the keynote speakers at the One Young World annual summit for young leaders, this year held in The Netherlands.

Luke was at The Hague to tell the summit his and brother Ryan’s experiences of domestic abuse following his dad’s murder of his mother Claire and sister Charlotte.

Standing on stage alongside the likes of American actress Amber Heard, the 28-year-old received a standing ovation following his first emotional speech.

Fighting back tears, Luke said: “On July 19, 2016 something unimaginable happened to me and my younger brother Ryan.

“My father shot my mother, Claire and my 19-year-old sister, Charlotte. He then committed suicide.

“Their murders occurred in my home town, in the car park of a swimming pool.

“Ryan and I only survived as we were working abroad at the time and only five days before, we’d raised enough money to move our mother and sister away from our abusive father.

“The press coverage that followed that incident described it as incredibly rare.

“Yet we had struggled our entire life against our father but our struggles had been invisible for 25 years.”

He concluded: “Only when we choose to understand victims’ perspectives do we truly stand in solidarity against the abuse of women and children.”

Luke also gave a second speech later in the day during a discussion about sexual
violence.

He said: “My pledge is to help create transformative change in the narratives around domestic abuse and its survivors. I hope to protect and to dignify them”

Earlier this year he and Ryan, who now live in Surrey, released a book called Operation Lighthouse.

The pair, who work in the oil industry, are now working to raise awareness of domestic abuse.

You can view the video of one of the speeches on Luke and Ryan’s Facebook page.