We all know the home we grow up in plays a huge part in making us the person we become. It’s where we take our first steps and learn to say our first words. For most of us, it’s the place where we feel the safest, where we first experience love, and where we learn right from wrong from those around us.
But for children in a home where domestic abuse is taking place, home can be a frightening and confusing place.
The NSPCC estimates that as many as one in five children are exposed to domestic abuse, which could involve physical, psychological or emotional harm. This is a truly horrifying statistic.
Listening to victims brings home just how much of an effect abuse can have on those who are forced to witness it. When I visited a Women’s Aid refuge in Grimsby I met survivors, victims of abuse and the people that work tirelessly to provide a safe space. What struck me most, and what gave me hope, was the resilience, resourcefulness and sense of community these women shared. It was in many ways a family – Christmas is celebrated with a meal shared by all and children playing together.
I was touched by many of the stories I was privileged to be told during my visit, but one in particular stays with me. That of Julia (not her real name), who told me how she and her young daughter had fled to the refuge to escape an abusive partner. The refuge was doing all it could, including placing Julia’s daughter in a local school, minimising the disruption to her education and social life and giving her emotional support.
Being exposed to domestic abuse can have devastating and long-lasting effects on children, which could result in behavioural problems, difficulties in forming relationships and issues at school. I know many people have, in later life, drawn on such childhood experiences to passionately campaign on domestic abuse and to support survivors, but children exposed to abuse can show signs of abusive behaviour themselves. And data unfortunately shows that those who witness domestic abuse at home are much more likely to be victims of abuse in adulthood. But perhaps worst of all, almost two thirds of children exposed to domestic abuse blame themselves for negative events.
The Government is clear that no one, young or old, should have to experience domestic abuse.
And while we have already put in place a series of measures to help families and end domestic abuse, we know that to truly eliminate it we must build a society with zero tolerance towards it. We must empower victims, communities and professionals to address domestic abuse in all its forms.
This is why the Government is committed to introducing a Domestic Abuse Bill. This will ensure greater protection and support for children who have been exposed to domestic abuse, enshrine an expanded definition of domestic abuse into law and require courts to consider tougher sentences in cases involving domestic abuse.
We know that changes to the law alone will not end domestic abuse, which is why we are developing a programme of non-legislative action to support the Bill. We have already committed to introduce mandatory sex and relationships education into all schools. And I know a lot of local areas have rolled out innovative programmes to increase information sharing between police and schools. Today we have also announced that £8 million will be allocated specifically to support children who are affected by domestic abuse, part of our aim to intervene at the earliest possible opportunity to prevent it.
We want to hear from the public about ways we can improve support to victims and their families and make domestic abuse everyone’s business. To do this, we have just launched a 12-week consultation to ask for the views of domestic abuse survivors, their families and friends, and the professionals who work with them to help shape a plan of action that makes a real difference to people’s lives.
We want the law to reflect the terrible impact domestic abuse has on children. Part of the consultation will explore whether the new Bill could supplement existing guidelines by creating a statutory aggravating factor that would apply to all offences involving domestic abuse, including where children have been directly or indirectly exposed to abuse. This will require judges to consider tougher sentences for perpetrators of domestic abuse and help to make home a safe place once again.
We know what a devastating impact domestic abuse can have both on victims and children and we are determined to put an end to it. To do so we need the help and support of people from all backgrounds across the country. We need the views of all those who have experienced abuse, whether first-hand or otherwise, to make their voice heard and contribute to this consultation. And we need the views of charities and groups who work tirelessly in this area to help us inform the direction of the Bill.
Together, we can end domestic abuse.
Draft Domestic Abuse Bill Consultation
On Thursday 8 March 2018, International Women’s Day, the Home Secretary will unveil proposals for a landmark Domestic Abuse Bill – and invite the public to contribute views on how such a Bill should look.
The consultation will include proposals to:
- Remove one of the barriers that victims encounter in court: coming face-to-face with their alleged abuser. We are proposing to give domestic abuse victims the same status in court as those who have suffered modern slavery or sex offences. This would give them the same rights to a range of special measures, such as giving evidence behind a screen or via video link;
- Appoint a Domestic Abuse Commissioner to stand up for victims, monitor provision of domestic abuse services, and hold Government (local and national) to account;
- Redefine and widen the definition of domestic abuse in law to recognise harmful patterns of behaviour beyond violence;
- Create a consolidated new domestic abuse prevention and protection order regime to create a clearer pathway of protection for victims and intervene earlier;
- Make sure that, if abusive behaviour involves a child, the court can hand down a sentence that reflects the devastating life-long impact that abuse has on the child;
The Government recognises that while legislation is necessary to end the harms caused by domestic abuse, it will take more than new laws to make a lasting difference. £20m in funding is being made available to increase support in specific areas.
The consultation has been specially designed to make it easily accessible digitally to encourage as many people as possible to respond and input – not just professionals in the sector
Background
- Domestic abuse is often recognised as physical, but it can take the form of psychological, sexual, emotional or financial abuse.
- Since 2010 there has been a 26% increase in domestic abuse prosecutions and a 33% increase in domestic abuse convictions.
- There has been a steep increase in police recorded instances of domestic abuse – a 16% increase between 2015/16 and 2016/17. However, the Office of National Statistics estimates only a fifth of victims speak to the police in the first place.
- Nearly two million people every year – the majority of them women – suffer from domestic abuse at the hands of those closest to them. Tragically, 82 women and 13 men were killed by a partner or former partner in 2016/17.
- Evidence shows that those who suffer domestic abuse are vulnerable to other crimes such as serious sexual assault and stalking.
- Office of National Statistics data shows that adults who witnessed domestic abuse as a child in their home were far more likely to experience abuse by a partner as an adult (34% compared with 11% who did not witness domestic abuse).