Can I say this in my interview?

[princesspeach21]

I have been in an abusive relationship for over a year now and this weekend things came to a head and I left. I am currently staying at my mum's but she lives in the same town.

I was given a great promotion at work quite recently. I really do not want to leave my current job but I don't feel safe here.

A friend in a town a couple of hundred miles away has offered me somewhere to stay, but obviously this means looking for a new job. Is it appropriate to tell the interviewers the reason I am looking to move? It must look strange that I want to leave after being promoted but I am really desperate. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to leave without finding a job first.

Thank you in advance for any advice.

You could say ‘due to family circumstances I am having to relocate’ and leave it at that. If anyone was to ask I’d say it’s a personal matter.
Best of luck and well done for having the courage to leave

I would be inclined to say it's for personal reasons, rather than go into detail.

Just say for personal reasons. You don’t need to go into it at all.

Agree it’s not appropriate to share details in an interview but unexpected family circumstances necessitate a move to Xshire.

I would also just say a change in family circumstances meant you had to relocate. Don't go into the detail of an abusive relationship at interview.

Please don’t tell them the exact reason! Only if they ask just say due to personal reasons you have relocated. Recently we were interviewing at my work and one interviewee went into detail about her abusive relationship etc and it didn’t bode well with the interviewers as it wasn’t really relevant to the job.

Be ever so careful about the amount of detail you go into. You don't know about the interviewers reaction (favourable or not) just say you're relocating.

Thank you all for your replies, I'm feeling a bit more confident about the whole thing.

I guess my main concern is that I don't want to look like someone who flits from job to job because nothing could be further from the truth.

I don’t suppose your current employer has a branch in a different area and you could relocate

@Redtartanshoes sadly not but thank you for the suggestion