In the mid-1930s, Hepburn's parents recruited and collected donations for the British Union of Fascists. Joseph left the family abruptly in 1935 after a "scene" in Brussels when Adriaantje (as she was known in the family) was six; later she often spoke of the effect on a child of being "dumped" as "children need two parents". Joseph moved to London, where he became more deeply involved in Fascist activity and never visited his daughter abroad. Hepburn later professed that her father's departure was "the most traumatic event of my life".