Social work training on coercive control

Was just thinking that Jess Phillips who is now Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls might be worth contacting.

With the BBC story and the petition started surely this would be grounds to some (an informal group?) of social workers to contact her to raise as a matter of concern in the HoC?

Just a thought.

By coincidence there was a petition to the UK Government on the Parliament web site about this very issue.

But it got closed early because of the election. (Why? Must be some strange procedural thing.)

Hopefully this could / will be restarted https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/653783

Not my area of work(!) but surprised that it would be thought courses at Universities are the best standard for training.

So I looked at Women's Aid training page, and strangely they offer training for members of the legal profession but not social workers.

Maybe they should at least have over sight of the university course content.

But an alarming example of how despite years, if not decades, of public debate about the impact of domestic violence, not just on women, but cost to health, workplaces and so on, and somehow the social work profession isn't aware of this.

(For instance there was a course advertised on eventbrite that sold out in about a day, about the link between animal abuse and domestic violence aimed at people working for animal charities. But then of course in the UK, pets probably get more concern for their well being than women. )

Lets hope this article makes it an issue that social work training will start to deal with.

A family counsellor was once told by my children and me that my ex sometimes filled the house with his anger.

The counsellor looked at my ex and said “You don’t seem the type of man who would lose your temper.”

Really, the lack of understanding of abuse in those who are supposed to help and protect women and children is terrifying.

I used to be a probation officer and used to spend a large proportion of my time arguing with social workers who didn't recognise DA risk and what we now call coercive control (the term wasn't used back then), the amount of times I was told cases I'd refer didn't meet the threshold for intervention, even though our risk assessment was of high risk of serious harm to known adults (partners) and or children. Also sorry we can't intervene the parent doesn't consent! I'd then have to repeatedly quote the relevant legislation, escalate complaints to get someone to take me seriously.
This sadly doesn't surprise me at all.

I’m a specialist DFV social worker and could agree more.

my masters degree in social work including one afternoon of specific DFV training of which coercive control was merely nodded at.

half my job is education other professionals that the client they are working with is experiencing coercive control