Researching how 11 to 19 year olds living in Hampshire are supported when they have experienced domestic abuse February 2015, by Kylie Barton
This report was commissioned by Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner, and carried out by One Community. Published February 2015 Written by Kylie Barton Further copies of this report are available from www.1community.org.uk One Community 16 Romsey Road Eastleigh SO50 9AL Tel: 023 8090 2462 Email: kbarton@1community.org.uk
CONTENTS Section
Page
Acknowledgements
pp.4
Executive Summary
pp.5-6
Abbreviations
pp.7
Introduction
pp.8
Definition of Terms
pp.9-10
Research Methods
pp.11-12
Literature Review
pp.13-19
The Hampshire Context; Current Provision in Hampshire
pp.20-28
What’s Happening Elsewhere
pp.29-32
Primary Research with Participants
pp.33-49
Conclusions
pp.50-51
Recommendations
pp.52
Areas Requiring Further Research
pp.53
References
pp.54-56
Appendices
pp.57-68
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to each organisation, and their staff, for taking the time out of their busy schedules to work with us to help create this report and resultantly improve knowledge on what it is that young people need. Thank you also to the number of survivors that engaged in the project – each of you is an inspiration.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Background One Community’s Positive Steps project was commissioned by the Office of the Police Crime Commissioner. Its aims to look at what provision already exists for the target group of 11-19 year olds, what is missing, and what kind of support is most beneficial to young people in Hampshire. This follows other research conducted on behalf of the PCC on victim support and elder abuse. Together they will help the PCC form a cohesive and informed strategy for how best to protect and support some of the county’s most vulnerable people. The research was undertaken as it became apparent there was a county wide lack of understanding of what support there is available for young people who have experienced domestic abuse. The report is to clarify what provisions there already are, which are proving most effective, and where there are gaps and room for improvement.
Existing Research Within existing research there is a consensus that the needs of young people can often be peripheral when it comes to service provision. What is clear is that domestic abuse exposure (direct or indirect) is incredibly harmful to the development of children and young people and to wait until it can be classified as ‘post’ is not necessarily the best course of action. Research shows that it is best to put preventative measures alongside support post abuse, not instead of, as this will help decrease the level of harm to children and young people as well as the level of resources and support they are likely to need across their lifespan.
Findings The clearest message from the research is that services cannot assume children and young people are supported just because their parent is, however it may also be true that if the parent is inadequately supported the child will also be experiencing greater adversities. It is apparent that taking the ‘whole family approach’ to support is the most conducive way of ensuring young people and the abused parent are suitably supported. It was found that in Hampshire geographically the areas with least provision were East Hants, Eastleigh, Test Valley, and Rushmoor and Hart. The areas of weakness noted were:
Strategically:
Terminology Communication, cooperation, and coordination Timing and access Capacity
Training
Interventions:
Male victims & young perpetrators Social media Mental health and counselling Education YPVAs and Refuge youth workers The Family Approach Drop in/respite Housing
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Recommendations There are 14 recommendations as a result of the research which are aimed to accurately reflect the voices of those who participated in the primary research. These have been split into strategic and frontline recommendations to help practice in Hampshire move forward to better support young people. At the strategic level:
Training
must be available to all professionals that come into contact with young people and
relevant to the current context of DA including coercive control and teenage abuse.
DA Forums
must be active and useful in each area. They must be held at regular intervals,
and be led by one professional who takes responsibility for cascading information.
Geographical gaps in provision were found as:
East Hants, Eastleigh, Hart and Rushmoor, and Test Valley A senior body also must ensure that databases are not duplicated and that all professionals that need access to such information have it. Websites relating to DA and CYP, such as the HDAF site, are up to date and user friendly for both professionals and victims.
Services must be prepared for the change
in the law
on coercive control and what this
means for them in action as well as to be ready to inform victims of what this means for them.
It is best if interventions are handled
holistically
(CYP, victim, and perpetrator) and if the
multi-agency approach is positively operational and understood well at all levels.
Finally
funding
should be restructured as so not be reliant on impractical, immeasurable
outcomes in order to facilitate long term interventions not crisis intervention in isolation. On the frontline: 1.
Better area coverage and access is needed. A mobile
drop in service
could provide an
innovative solution by allowing a service to be hosted in a mobile vehicle (like mobile libraries). This could help professionals gain access to the hard to reach areas and vulnerable groups. 2.
An increase of
Young Persons Violence Advocates
(YPVAs) perhaps under a
different title to soften and encourage optimum engagement. IDVAs have been proven as a useful tool for adult victims and this approach too can help young people. 3.
Healthy relationship workshops
are proven to be a fantastic prevention tool and
therefore every school should be encouraged to have one. 4. 5. 6.
Provision of existing national
online tools such as the hideout should be encouraged More whole family approach work by frontline professionals. The construction of a social media toolkit from the strategic level in the form of an information pack and perhaps a training session for use on the frontline. This would be of great use to help engage young people
7.
A single
website for young victims to use to access local and national services should be
developed. This could be a one stop shop to direct young people to targeted services much like the new ‘advicesouthampton’ website – clean, user friendly, and simple.
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ABBREVIATIONS BME CAADA
Black Minority Ethnic Coordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse
CAFCASS
Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service
CAMHS
Child and Adolecent Mental Health Service
CSE
Child Sexual Exploitation
CYP
Children and Young People
DA
Domestic Abuse
DASH EHE
Domestic Abuse, Stalking and 'Honour'-based Violence - Risk Identification Checklist used by professionals including police, IDVA, and DA professionals Electively Home Educated
EYC
Eastleigh Youth Counselling
HDAF
Hampshire Domestic Abuse Forum
HMIC
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary
LGA
Local Government Authority
LA’s
Local Authorities
LGBT
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender
MARAC
Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference - a multi agency meeting of professionals to discuss local DA cases
NEET
Not in Education Employment or Training
PCC
Police and Crime Commisioner
PIPPA PSHE
Prevention, Intervention and Public Protection Alliance - like a domestic abuse forum but more active with a helpline for professionals Personal, Social and Health Education
SDAS
Southern Domestic Abuse Service
SRA
Social Research Association
SRC
Southampton Rape Crisis
TADIC
Teenage Drop in Centre
YCP
Youth Crime Prevention
YOT
Youth Offending Team
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INTRODUCTION It is a priority of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Hampshire Constabulary to help better support victims, and moreover reduce perpetration of domestic abuse. Domestic abuse prevention and support has become a prevalent issue, with central and local government, police, health professionals, and the voluntary sector all more openly discussing what was once (and sometimes still is) viewed as a taboo subject. DA costs an estimated £3.9 billion a year (Walby, 2009) and high risk DA constitutes £2.4 billion, therefore it is logical to ensure that preventative measures are as robust as post DA support to stop individual cases escalating to high risk. So although this project is concerned with ‘post’ it is evident that looking at this in isolation is not practical. It has been widely documented that services for young people have been reduced due to the current economic climate but what hasn’t been recognised is the strain this has put on voluntary organisations that are trying to fill the gap. This research has confirmed that this is very much the case in Hampshire, where a number of different organisations are working to better the lives of young people in the county who haven’t had the best start in life. The ‘multi-agency approach’, is still very much in its infancy and so needs to be further encouraged and developed into a fully working mechanism to best serve the users of the organisations involved. Strategically the multi-agency approach is most definitely the right one to take, however it appears that it is not yet filtering down all the way through the system and there appears to be an element of confusion between smaller organisations that needs to be rectified. The research was conducted by speaking with professionals, adults, and young people, to ensure that all interested parties had a voice, and that the issue was investigated fully. The latter two stages were to allow the users of services a chance to report what they feel worked best for them in helping them move forth, as well as to share what could have been done better, and what gaps there are in services. It was clear from professional consultation that it is impossible to consider ‘post domestic abuse’ in isolation since as a state it does not exist that simply, also that the research was asked to cover exposure – direct abuse and abuse in the environment of the young person. This meant that the question had to be tackled in a much broader sense than originally anticipated taking into consideration the experience of the abused parent, and the perpetrator. The results of the research saw similar concerns arise from professionals and survivors alike. What sometimes is more challenging is ensuring that those concerns are heard at every level of the process and this is why research like this and more generally the multi-agency approach, is so important.
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WHAT DO WE MEAN BY DOMESTIC ABUSE?
‘Abuse may consist of a single act or repeated acts. It may be physical, verbal, or psychological, it may be an act of neglect or an omission to act, or it may occur when a vulnerable person is persuaded to enter into a financial or sexual transaction to which he or she has not consented, or cannot consent. Abuse can occur in any relationship and may result in significant harm to, or exploitation of, the person subjected to it’ (No Secrets, 2000) In 2013, the UK government redefined domestic abuse to include 16 and 17 year olds as opposed to 18 plus. This change was made after a series of consultations with relevant bodies and was enacted to try and encourage young people to come forward with information regarding their situation at home. The government’s new definition of domestic violence and abuse is: ‘Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality.’1 There are five main categorisations of abuse; physical; emotional (psychological); sexual; financial; and neglect. This project is specifically looking at domestic abuse either in the environment of, and/or directed towards persons between the ages of 11 and 19. Therefore by official definition, the project is actually looking at domestic abuse as outlined above for the cohort of 16 to 19 year olds, and child abuse for those aged between 11 and 16. Child abuse is defined in the same way as domestic abuse bu the government and relevant organisations, but it applies when adults abuse children under 16. Child to child abuse is also classified as child abuse. The same five categories apply. There is also a lesser discussed term of ‘complex child abuse’ or ‘complex abuse’ which relates to one or more abusers and an element of organisation. In addition there is teenage abuse, which is intimate partner abuse between teenagers. The NSPCC (2006) says that girls between 16 and 18 are as likely to be abused by their boyfriends as their parents.
DEFINITIONS BROKEN DOWN BY CATEGORY Physical ‘Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scolding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm.’2 Emotional Emotional abuse of a child is the persistent emotional ill treatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent effects on the child’s emotional development. Emotional abuse also incorporates coercive control: ‘Controlling behaviour is a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and
1 2
https://www.gov.uk/domestic-violence-and-abuse#domestic-violence-and-abuse-new-definition https://www.gov.uk/domestic-violence-and-abuse#domestic-violence-and-abuse-new-definition 9|Pag e
regulating their everyday behaviour. Coercive behaviour is an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.’3 Some level of emotional abuse is involved in most types of ill treatment of children, though emotional abuse may occur alone, unlike other forms of abuse. Sexual ‘Using force, threats or intimidation to make someone perform sexual acts, having sex with a person when they don't want to have sex, and any degrading treatment based on your sexual orientation.’ Financial ‘Financial abuse is one form of control used by domestic violence perpetrators in order to gain power over their partner, and is the most direct way in which domestic violence and financial issues relate to each other. Financial abuse can take many different forms, but all are aimed at limiting and controlling the partner’s current and future actions and freedom of choice4. Neglect Neglect involves the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health and development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance misuse.
3 4
https://www.gov.uk/domestic-violence-and-abuse#domestic-violence-and-abuse-new-definition http://www.womensaid.org.uk/core/core_picker/download.asp?id=3607 10 | P a g e
RESEARCH PLAN Research question How are young people between the ages of 11 and 19 living in Hampshire supported when they have experienced historical domestic abuse? Aims The aim of the research project was threefold. Firstly to assess existing support provision for people between the ages of 11 and 19 who have experienced historic domestic abuse (including accessibility, sustainability, and suitability), secondly to establish the types of support that are working best for those young people, and thirdly to ascertain where there are gaps and where Hampshire needs to improve in supporting young people. Methodology The research project followed a phenomenological method; utilising a mixed methods design, and was broken into three stages; stakeholder analysis, consultation with adults who experienced domestic abuse as a young person, and consultation with 11-19 year olds who experienced historic domestic abuse. The stakeholder analysis allowed the researcher to make contact with organisations in the locality (statutory and voluntary, frontline and second tier) who directly or indirectly work with the cohort with which the research question is concerned. The sample was drawn from existing provision lists, through utilising contacts, and though a general web search for services. The researcher consulted with services in the area being addressed by the research question, but also in the wider locality and nationally to expand knowledge and find examples of good practice. Professionals in these organisations were asked to firstly complete a questionnaire (Appendix 1) comprising of a balance of open and closed questions to provide a quantitative grounding to what will be a mainly qualitative study. Secondly that person was contacted to arrange a face to face interview5 with the researcher to give them a chance to expand on their initial answers in detail, and for the researcher to ask any follow up questions. Thirdly the researcher invited the interviewee to the stakeholders’ focus group6 (Appendix 4), and then assessed whether the stakeholder in question could provide access to participants for the second and third stages. If deemed appropriate and if agreed by the stakeholder, the researcher then discussed and made plans with the professional on how best for this to be orchestrated with the target group keeping in mind their individual vulnerabilities. The plan for the adult consultation stage was always going to be flexible dependent on the groups the researcher gained access to. The researcher aimed to carry out observations7 of projects that work with these adults, and then provide the adults with a questionnaire and the opportunity for a One to One 5
Interviews were conducted in an open, unstructured manner and were very interviewee led to allow participants to naturally focus on the areas they felt key to the research question. Interviews always started with the researcher providing an overview of the project and ensuring the person being interviewed understood the aims of the research project. 6 Focus groups were structured around the three aims of the project 7 Observations are where the researcher attended a group/project/programme hosted by a stakeholder and simply observed. No interaction was had with participants, nor questions asked. This was to see the how current services work and how well participants in them engage as well as a route to accessing adult and young person participants for stages 2 and 3.
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(Appendix 2) where appropriate8. The plan for consultation with young people (Appendix 3) was even more heavily dependent on access to participants but followed the same structure as the adult consultation. Analysis The questionnaires (Appendix 1) were read before moving onto the next stage with each individual stakeholder, but were not analysed as a unit until the end of each stage, when statistics were drawn from the answers given. The interviews, observations, and focus groups were typed up immediately after the research was undertaken, and analysis of these occurred as an ongoing process throughout each stage, with initial themes being highlighted and used to direct further questioning in the rest of the research project. Ethics All research undertaken in the project was carried out following SRA ethical guidelines. Participant confidentiality was ensured where requested through the changing of names. Reliability With qualitative research one of the main concerns is researcher bias. However in this project this has been limited due to a wide literature review and reflexivity has been addressed through utilisation of a researcher who is new to the topic area allowing bias towards certain types of provisions or services to be minimised. Project outcomes: A report to be completed by March 2015 for use by the PCC.
8
After initial meetings it became clear that the format of a questionnaire may not always be compatible with the literacy level of the target group, and so this stage had to be omitted for some participants.
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LITERATURE REVIEW Despite the increasing focus on domestic abuse issues, there is still relatively little research specifically looking at how children who have experienced domestic abuse (DA) historically (direct abuse or exposure) are supported. Secretiveness and stigma around DA being a private problem continues to be a hurdle to help being obtained.
‘Current measures do not adequately address child exposure to adult domestic abuse effects’ (Edleson et al 2007)
“The hardest part was having to keep re-living it again and again with different workers.” - Sienna
The literature review looked at what methods of support are thought to be most effective and where the biggest challenges lay to help inform the rest of this study to help Hampshire move forward. Parent victim support post abuse was also taken into consideration, as frequently parent victim experiences have a profound effect on what support is needed for the young person. According to Buckley et al (2007) abuse between parents more often than not overspills into the parent-child relationship.
Hester’s three planet model (2011) is a useful way to conceptualise domestic abuse provision and demonstrates the ‘systematic problems that undermine the effectiveness of practice’.
DA Work
Child Contact
Victim focused
Parent focused
Child Protection Child focused
The three ‘planets’ are DA work (focussed on the victim and the perpetrator therefore omitting needs of the child), child protection (protecting the child’s welfare without taking into consideration the wider context of the situation), and child contact (the state should not dictate matters of the family and assume that contact with both parents is the best course of action). According to Hester these three areas have different priorities and histories that lead them to
“It’s like leaving one controlling person behind to be at the mercy of 10 plus controlling organisations” -Lilly
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different conclusions when it comes to DA support – something which is manifest in DA provision today. The move towards multi-agency working was to bridge these differences, however on the ground the effect of this is still minimal. There are currently only sporadic, poorly attended meetings held. Agencies are still lacking in information and victims are still being passed from service to service. The impact of DA on children and young people is profound. This can include anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems that our young people should not be burdened with; an increased likelihood to offend (UNICEF, 2006), and difficulties sustaining relationships, education, and employment (DCSF, 2010). Children that experience DA are more likely to internalise (girls) or externalise (boys) behaviours and certain triggers can re-traumatise them (Evans et al, 2008). The multiple stressors experienced by such young people are labelled the ‘adversity package’ by Rossman (Buckley et al, 2007). This adversity places the child or young person at a significant disadvantage early on in life, and is why support needs to be plentiful, relevant, and accessible. Mental health and behaviour replication Mental Health is a sector highlighted as particularly struggling with capacity across the county, and the country. The House of Commons Health Committee of 2014 picked up on some of these difficulties, such as waiting times, thresholds, GP inadequacy, and the transition from CAMHS to adult mental health services being a ‘cliff edge’. The LGA (2014) go as far as to say that only a full overhaul of the system can now guarantee improvement. Wolpert (2014) describes how the ‘Thrive’ model could be implemented to improve coherence through community work as well as individualised support to help tackle the low attendance problems. In Wolpert’s research only 40 per cent of providers reported providing crisis access and that waiting times often exceed 15 weeks. In society in general there are increased emotional problems and capacity has not been raised to cope with the demand. Research by Kelly, Sharp and Klein (2014) showed that mothers who have experienced DA fear their daughters will become victims and sons will become perpetrators. The mothers that had access to specialist counselling for their children felt it had a positive effect, but services are not often specialist enough or accessible enough. Children are also known to worry about this themselves. UNICEF (2006) states that DA is more common in homes with younger children. This could be because parents assume younger children are unaware of what is happening when actually it is agreed that abuse can be highly detrimental to pre-natal infants as well as babies and young children, as this is a crucial development stage.
‘Some of the biggest victims of domestic violence are the smallest’ (UNICEF, 2006) For years the focus has been on young people as offenders as opposed to victims and this label is hard to break even though victims and offenders are not always separate people. Many offenders are also victims and victims also offenders (Tapley et al, 2014a). Fox et al (2014) state that 92 per cent of perpetrators report to have experienced DA earlier in their lifetime. UNICEF (2006) acknowledges there is a significant risk of increased harm as the child grows up and that the likelihood of the DA cycle continuing throughout generations is a strong one (Ofsted, 2013). Crime and justice Policing is sited as another problematic area for DA victims. The HMIC report of 2014(b) ’Everyone’s business: improving the police response to domestic abuse’ looked into the effectiveness of policing of DA 14 | P a g e
and found numerous problems. It found that there still seems to be a lack of knowledge among forces, and a failure to prioritise preventative action. The report cited good initiatives such as linking DA results to career progression, integrating with neighbourhood teams, additional PCSO training on the issue, and hosting IDVAs in police stations. A large problem cited was the inappropriate use of cautioning. According to academics and professionals, this is simply not appropriate in DA cases. Evidence shows that sometimes victims have experienced multiple incidents before they have the courage to contact the police and if the perpetrator is allowed to return due to a standard caution this can discourage future reporting. An example of good practice was found in North Yorkshire according to the report where medium or standard risk cases would be followed up by the neighbourhood team, and in Nottinghamshire a Women’s Aid worker would accompany officers. According to the Avon and Somerset PCC (2014) DA victims need a quick response, a consistent service, more female officers, a better attitude from services including the police about DA issues, processes explained before, to be kept updated, and to be believed to the point a serious investigation is undertaken. The CPS (2013) states that the model in the North West is an example of good practice with special resource packs for use by police and other professionals and DV Courts for advocates and victims. In this area there are also police workshops and initiatives to help young people understand healthy relationships. In the same report the issue of ‘teenage abuse’ was said to be quite prominent. In this area of DA the report states the victim is not as well supported and that prosecutors must be better trained to understand the needs of young perpetrators and young victims. ‘Right to ask and right to know’ under Clare’s Law, alongside the DV Protection Orders (Home Office 2012), seems to be an effective police tool, but awareness is still low and victims need to be better informed of such instruments to help protect them, which is all part of better police communications. The rationing of legal aid has had a profound effect upon victims (Cooper, 2014) and their children as it means non molestation orders and other good instruments are now inaccessible to the most vulnerable – ‘jeopardising their safety and freedom’ (Solace Women’s Aid, 2014). Tickle (2014) also extensively discusses the multiple problems victims have in accessing justice including the fact the law doesn’t allow one parent to change a child’s name, and that aid is means tested to the extreme that strict evidence dated within 2 years is required. This means that if the perpetrator is coming out of prison after a 3 year sentence the victim cannot be protected when the abuse is historic although the threat and risk is still very real. 53 per cent of mothers go to court without representation – prolonging proceedings and prolonging abuse (Cooper, 2014). Timing Another challenge noted by Kelly, Sharp and Klein (2014) is that there is still pressure on the victim to leave without the logical considerations of how to do so, or the effects it will have on the children. It is at this stage the perpetrator often manipulates agencies into collusion, meaning the victim is left unsupported (Solace Women’s Aid, 2014). Solace said however that relationships with all agencies improve when victims have access to an advocate. Kelly, Sharp and Klein (2014) also note that many nonspecialist DA agencies still limit DA to merely the physical, leaving victims feeling they need to have bruises or they will be seen as over-reacting. A more holistic, empathetic model is needed. Long term support is crucial (at least 2 years after separation) and funders need to change their short term crisis resolution attitude when it comes to DA as this approach ends up costing more in the end.
Despite evidence supporting early intervention and long term support funding cuts mean this is not happening. (House of Commons Health Committee, 2014) 15 | P a g e
Laville (2014) writes on how funding changes in local authorities will mean that larger housing associations with less specialist knowledge will be more likely to get contracts and women’s groups are concerned that they will be forced to provide a quicker turnover and take men too. These fears are real in Hampshire with refuges and other specialist provision already feeling the strain. Training, awareness and understanding Research shows that training and understanding levels are not yet adequate. For example the Kelly, Sharp and Klien study (2014) showed that professionals such as social workers or midwives did not understand that questions about DA need to be asked away from the potential abuser as a number of women in the study reported workers doing so. It is essential that in DA cases it is not presumed, as in other cases of relationship breakdown, that contact is the best option when non abusing parents often use contact to continue abuse. This could also be through financial means resulting in the children and the abused parent still experiencing abuse. Radford et al (2011) states that children should be reassessed after a DA relationship has appeared to come to an end especially if there is still contact between the child and the abuser. Solace Women’s Aid (2014) says that one oversight is the financial struggle post separation with access to benefits harder than ever with the new Universal Credit system, and moving costs, which a number of professionals and victims believe should be funded by central government too. A ‘Cinderella Law’ to tackle emotional abuse was promised in this year’s Queen’s Speech and the government has recently announced that coercive control will be implemented in law in line with their definition of DA after a consultation (Home Office 2014). This will see coercive control forming its own offence, and will give police a better set of tools with which to prosecute perpetrators. It is imperative that all organisations understand what this means and how it will better support victims to ensure that when the law comes into force it has the maximum impact. The voluntary sector reports that it is struggling to bear the responsibility of this alone in the current economic climate, and it is those organisations that are most likely to be serving victims who are in a post abuse situation as statutory organisations only have the capacity to work with high risk cases and crisis intervention. Walby (2009) states that when funding is increased or sustained, total costs are actually reduced as health and other public service costs are reduced with earlier intervention and support. This is particularly the case with children and young people as they have a longer lifespan though which to use services. Radford et al (2011) state that it is very difficult to get professionals to focus on the children and young people as especially statutory organisations are still of the mindset that satisfying the mothers’ needs also satisfies the child’s needs. When the mother falls below the ‘high risk’ threshold the child’s needs are further pushed aside. According to Gardner (2008) there are particular problems with joining up adult and children’s services in tracking referrals. He says there must be regular research and best practice updates, single and joint training, regular case audits, and updates on best practices. The Just Rights (2014) manifesto drawn up by young people cited statutory services ‘fobbing them off’ to save money as a main objection. Children and young people are often an invisible group and opportunities for intervention are often missed (Buckley et al, 2007). The severity of DA exposure effects does not yet seem embedded throughout the professional community. Children’s human rights are violated when they are exposed to DA as their right to a stable home environment and safety is compromised (UNICEF, 2006). One contrasting opinion comes from Devaney (2008) who says the focus should be put on to the risk that the perpetrator presents not the risk the children are at as perpetrators need to accept responsibility for their behaviour. This kind of attitude can be risky however, as although the perpetrators are the source, we cannot concentrate on them in isolation. Whilst services adjust to this preventative mode there are 16 | P a g e
still a large number of victims requiring multi-strand support. There must be balance, and the victim should never have to go without support just because services have decided to tackle the issue from a different angle. Statistics and evidence Reporting appears to be on the increase (Walby, 2009) thanks to increased media coverage and government discussion on policy. It does not seem to be clear, however, whether this trend is the same for children and young people. According to the Home Office (2013) 16-19 year olds are the most likely group to suffer partner abuse, but the majority of crimes against young people are not reported as many children do not know what they have experienced is a crime or the behaviour may have been normalised by their peer group or family (Beckette and Warrington, 2014). A common theme is that young people fear that adults will ‘trivialise’ the issue (Girls’ Attitudes Survey, 2014), but it is an issue that is far from trivial when you consider the numbers. Chaplin et al (2011) note that by the age of 16, 30 per cent of women and 17 per cent of men have experienced a form of DA, and in 2012 CAADA estimated that around 130,000 children in the UK were living with domestic abuse; a figure that only counted the high risk cases known to services, so it can be assumed the number of children requiring support is much larger. Especially when one considers that a child is never merely a witness to DA, as witnessing abuse to a family member will result in the child feeling emotional abuse (Holt et al, 2008). This stream of thought is something that came up perpetually in the primary research. Emotional harm is an outcome of all forms of maltreatment (Gardner, 2008), and for many victims the psychological element is the worst part of the abuse (Liverpool Mental Health Consortium, 2014). In 2014 the NSPCC reported that emotional neglect referrals increased by almost 50 per cent. In 2014 child protection plans were put in place for almost 60,000 children – an increase of 13.5 per cent (Beckette and Warrington, 2014). According to the NSPCC (2006) physical abuse is the third most common reason children ring Childline and it is experienced by 21 per cent of children, and the second is family tensions. Holt also argues that children who grow up in a DA environment are far more likely to have an avoidant attachment style in future relationships and to replicate aggressive behaviour. This is backed up by Agnew’s General Strain Theory which tells us that DA exposure may pertain to later exhibiting violence to try and regain control and deter further victimisation (Menard et al, 2014). Sabates and Dex (2012) allow us to further conceptualise this process by describing how a child does not grow up in isolation but in response to proximal factors such as family life and home environment and distal factors such as peer networks and school. Proximal factors should be constant and stable; any instability such as DA exposure can have severe effects on development.
The first findings of the Young People’s Programme by CAADA (2014) showed that 25 per cent of young people taking part in the programme had a criminal record or had been in trouble with the police and almost 40 per cent were NEET when in the general population this figure is 14 per cent. This suggests young people exposed to DA are almost four times as likely to be NEET than those who aren’t.
Resolutions 4LSCB (2007) states that statutory guidance indicates that safeguarding children is everyone’s responsibility (Children’s Act 2004 s.11) which includes protection from maltreatment, and growing up in a safe environment. 4LSCB also state that schools should not investigate abuse but identify and refer to 17 | P a g e
appropriate agencies as well as educate pupils through PSHE. However as PSHE is non-statutory the level of DA provision and content varies considerably. It is widely agreed in the literature that such content should be statutory in PSHE lessons alongside other related issues such as young people’s rights. Research by Radford et al (2014) also showed that there is a need for more robust sex and relationship education in schools given the prevalence of inappropriate touching by peers.
“We need to know how to spot abuse in another person’s relationship and what to do about it” (Respondent from the Girls’ Attitudes Survey, 2014) Many authors (Hester, Cooper, Kelly, Sharp, Klein, Radford, CAADA, and more) agree on what is needed. The core items that arose frequently throughout the literature included: - DA in PSHE education - Better training for police and other statutory organisations - Better coordination and communication - Increased advocacy and individualisation of services - Project work and outreach services Young Persons IDVAs (YPVAs) are also a resource not used enough by local authorities. Blackpool has 18 young person’s IDVAs to provide targeted support to 16-18 year olds (Home Office, 2013). For those under 16 the cases tend to fall to other organisations that are not as well trained to deal with matters of DA. As recommended by CAADA (2012a) there must be specialist provision for children and young people living with DA, including clear referral pathways from statutory organisations and a method of communication between MARAC, LSCBs, and providers. They also recommended that funding be made available to widen services to 16-18 year olds in line with the new definition; however this is yet to happen in many places including Hampshire. Holt et al (2008) discussed how children are at increased risk of experiencing DA if they are exposed to it however they did say that if that child has a strong positive relationship with one adult the long term effects can be mitigated. Kiser et al (2014) said that young people who have been exposed to DA require a wider range of social experiences to help them learn what is socially acceptable behaviour before adverse behaviours manifest – which may not be until years later. Buckley et al (2007) discussed how young people who manage to stay in education but face struggles completing homework or making it in on time face a lack of understanding by teachers. School was a strong solution focus for the young people in their study and informing staff to help them look for a reason behind the behaviours as opposed to just dismissing young people. Signs are often labelled ‘acting out’ or ‘poor lifestyle choices’ when this is in fact not the case and consequently they may end up in the justice system as opposed to the child protection system (NSPCC, 2014). This was closely followed by the need for a place to talk and a person to trust as well as group work and peer to peer support and mentoring. In the Girls’ Attitudes Survey (2014) respondents said anonymous ways to disclose and a clearer meaning of consent as well as teacher confidence on the issue were priorities. It seems obvious but as every case of DA is different, each support system post DA needs to be tailored individually to the victim and this is especially the case with young people as they respond in different ways. The key themes that arose from the reading included how early intervention is key from each planet, for monetary reasons which unfortunately is the first consideration, and to ensure that young people do not get into a cycle of perpetration or victimisation themselves therefore costing the system more in the end. It is also clear that knowledge must be improved to ensure maximum disclosure probability and to better individualise support. 18 | P a g e
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THE HAMPSHIRE CONTEXT: EXISTING PROVISION IN HAMPSHIRE
There are around 489 service providers in the Hampshire region who work with young people in one capacity or another who may have experienced or may be experiencing domestic abuse. Excluding Southampton this is around 40. As you will see through our interactive map there is a higher concentration of services around the bigger cities such as Winchester, with support outside of that area varying considerably. North Hampshire coverage is particularly sporadic. DA victims are classified as a hard to reach group by community safety partnerships and the geographical layout of Hampshire makes it even truer for the county.
Barnardos estimate that on average women contact 11 agencies before they get the help they need, this rises to 17 for minority groups. CAADA Annual Conference 2014
EXISTING RESEARCH Coy et al (2009) found that the South and the South East are poor in terms of local specialised support for DA victims. Tapley et al (2014a) conducted a research project on victimisation in Hampshire and she states that there is a dire need for age appropriate interventions and that there is specifically a lack of tailored counselling services for young people and training for the professionals working with them. Fox and Butler (2007) found that young people value in-school counselling services and suggests they are desperately needed when only one in four young people needed mental health support get it from a specialist service. 9
Numbers variable as projects/organisations change/close from week to week
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Tapley also pointed out there are large gaps within Hampshire when it comes to support for the LGBT community in terms of DA – something backed up by the primary research of this study. In Hampshire 0-19 year olds make up the second largest age group (slightly less than 45-64 year olds) and yet there is a lack of service provision due to funding cuts. Just Rights (2014) states that 44 per cent of youth advice services have closed or were significantly scaled back last year. Tapley recommended: -
Ensuring victims are communicated with better Expand IDVA services including hospital IDVAs Sustainable three year funding Development of a women’s centre
-
Expand ISVA services and YP ISVA To improve specialist counselling for trauma Sustainable and specialist children’s/YP services Tailored services for male victims Better awareness raising of crime reporting
The Hampshire Safeguarding Children’s Board thresholds include DA in threshold 3 (targeted early help) and 4 (children’s social care) which are the thresholds that grant access to the greatest level of support. As we have seen above however, what kind of support is available and to whom is a massive post code lottery. Domestic Abuse forum meetings show that services across the county are busy and working at capacity. Eastleigh police now ensure safer neighbourhood teams deal with low risk DA referrals though offering advice and support visits. They also have a vulnerable tracker marker on properties that are known to them. In the HMIC (2014a) inspection, Hampshire Constabulary found that 8 per cent of all crime is DA related and for every 100 DA crimes recorded there were 90 arrests. It is imperative to note that not all crimes are reported and not all arrests end in a conviction and this is especially the case with DA. Not all reported crimes are recorded, and a high percentage of recorded crimes do not get to court due to insufficient evidence – something also more likely in DA crimes. The force uses DASH forms but there is a capacity problem with MARAC in the county, and although frontline officers receive a certain level of training there are no longer specialist officers to investigate cases and investigators that have taken over often do not have the appropriate training. There is no process for information to be passed to local officers about DA perpetrators but information is shared after a domestic homicide, which seems a little too late. Research by the HMIC (2014a) shows that most DA disclosures to the police are made over the phone and yet call handlers are not trained in working with DA victims. This could be particularly damaging if a child or young person calls as they are likely to be more easily deterred if handled incorrectly, which is another reason why training across the board is crucial.
STATISTICS Domestic Crimes And Incidents (inc crimes)
AprilJune 2013
AprilJune 2014
Domestic incidents
6345
6515
Repeat domestics
3177
3094
% repeat
50.07%
47.49%
Statistics from Hampshire Constabulary provided on 21/07/14 Domestic incidents have increased by 170 between 2013 and 2014, but the percentage of repeat incidents has dropped by 3 per cent. This could mean that the number of victims coming forward has increased due to a better societal understanding of the issues around DA and more confidence in the system rather than 21 | P a g e
simply more incidents occurring. In any research it is imperative to bear in mind that figures of crime reported only reflect a fraction of the crimes actually being committed and this is especially the case with something as sensitive as domestic abuse. The percentage of repeat incidents has decreased a little, this could show that in those cases the incident was dealt with effectively upon the first reporting, or that it was dealt with inappropriately making the victim dubious about reporting again.
EXISTING SERVICES Below is a list of all services found in each district10 of Hampshire and then a section of other services contacted in the locality or further afield that were used for examples of good practice. Statutory/Universal services have only been listed if they have been actively participating as these should be the same in each area. Those emboldened are those who actively participated in the research project. In this instance primary means works directly with victims/perpetrators and secondary means a supporting service or signposting service. Specialist DA services are shown in blue. Whether a Domestic Abuse Forum is active or not is dependent on one professional taking a lead on it – something that needs addressing. Basingstoke and Deane There is an active Domestic Abuse Forum, but it is not easy to find out about. There is refuge support in the area, as well as Family Group Conferences, and group support, but again capacity does not meet need, and geographical accessibility is a particular issue in and around Basingstoke.
Daybreak
Primary/ Secondary Primary
Universal/ Voluntary Voluntary
Home Start
Primary
Voluntary
Stoneham
Primary
Taking Steps
Primary
Organisation
Age Group All ages
Areas worked in Basingstoke
Open & Referrals
All ages
Basingstoke
Voluntary
Open and Referrals
16+
Basingstoke
Voluntary
Open & Referrals
All ages
Basingstoke, Hook, Aldershot
Access Referrals
Support offered Family Group Conferencing Refuge and support workers Housing, refuge, and support workers Womens support groups, oneto-ones
Eastleigh There is an active Domestic Abuse Forum in Eastleigh where universal services join with specialist and voluntary services to discuss strategy and initiatives. Other than that, there are no DA specialist services in Eastleigh other than an overstretched refuge which mainly hosts victims from outside of Hampshire. There are a number of youth services which do some awareness raising work, and YCP/YOT who often find themselves working with DA victims with nowhere to refer them to for specialist support. There are counselling facilities with counsellors trained in DA issues, however capacity does not meet the need and effectiveness is dependent on the age group.
10
I have listed services in the area that they are physically situated, however it is important to note many of them work wider. Those physically situated in Southampton but that work within other Hampshire districts have been listed in those districts. All of this information is correct as of September 2014 when stage 1 of this research project ended.
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Primary/ Secondary Secondary
Universal/ Voluntary Voluntary
Open
Age Group 13-21
EYC / TADIC Groundwork Solent iTalk
Primary Primary
Voluntary Voluntary
Referral Open
11+ 16+
Primary
Voluntary
Open
Hampshire wide
Play therapy Solent Youth Action
Primary Primary
Voluntary Voluntary
Referral Open
All ages 8+ 13-19
The Anchorage Victim Support YCP/YOT
Primary
Voluntary
Referral
0+
Eastleigh
Primary
Voluntary
Open
16+
Nationwide
Primary
Universal
Referral
13-18
Nationwide
Organisation 4 Youth
Access
Areas worked in Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, Southampton Eastleigh Fareham, Eastleigh
Eastleigh Eastleigh Borough
Support offered Training
Counselling Training and projects Counselling Therapy Youth clubs, training, and projects Refuge and support worker Helpline Crime Prevention
East Hampshire There is an active Domestic Abuse Forum, but it is not easy to find out about. Petersfield, Hazlemere, and Bordon have no support either general or specialist. Petersfield has The Kings Arms Youth Group but it is more of an afterschool club than advice service. Alton is served by the SDAS but this is only through 3 day summer camps for young people and one freedom programme for women. This district has a high level of antisocial behaviour and so it is likely that need for DA support is there.
SDAS
Primary/ Secondary Primary
Universal/ Voluntary Voluntary
The Kings Arms
Primary
Voluntary
Organisation
Access Open & Referrals Open
Age Group 7+
Areas worked in Alton
11-19
Petersfield
Support offered Freedom Programme Youth Group
Fareham and Gosport It appears there is a Domestic Abuse Forum in this area, although the website is very out of date and so makes it difficult to see if it still runs. Catch 22 is a catch all11 service that used to have a number of projects but due to funding this has been limited to a handful – none of which are DA specific. It is an open, drop in service which seems to work well and does result in a number of disclosures. There is an IDVA trained member of staff, but other than that there is little other localised specialist support. Organisation Catch 22 (Young Women’s Support Service) Fareham & Gosport Family
Primary/ Secondary Primary
Universal/ Voluntary Voluntary
Primary
Voluntary
Access Open & Referrals
Open
Age Group 16+
Areas worked in Southampton and Fareham
All ages
Fareham and Gosport
Support offered Drop in service
Floating support, refuge,
11
A service that doesn’t have a specialist or limited remit, but instead allows the young person to come in and speak about whatever they wish or even nothing at all.
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Aid
projects & oneto-ones for women and YP, Training and projects
Groundwork Solent
Primary
Voluntary
Open
16+
Fareham, Eastleigh
Home Start
Primary
Voluntary
Open & Referrals
All ages
Fareham and Gosport
Refuge and support workers
Hart and Rushmoor This is the only area where the DA Forum chair is paid. The Clearstone Trust provides One to One sessions and group work for DA victims, but has limited capacity and geographical reach. Organisation Clearstone Trust
Rushmoor & Hart’s Womens Refuge
Primary/ Secondary Primary
Universal/ Voluntary Voluntary
Primary
Voluntary
Access Open
Open and Referra ls
Age Group 11-21
Areas worked in Farnborough
All ages
Hart and Rushmoor
Support offered Crisis support, oneto-ones, group work, school refuser group, Creative art group, respite, school holiday clubs, Coffee shop, Refuge and Support Workers
Havant There is an active Domestic Abuse Forum but it is not easy to find out about. Havant is the only area with two strong and active specialist DA support services. Between SDAS and Aurora New Dawn, all elements of support for the group in question are covered as well as adults, although capacity is still problematic. These services have a number of different projects to ensure people are supported from pre DA awareness raising to post therapeutic and practical support. Both services are working to expand their working area, and are liaising with other services in the county to achieve this. Aurora New Dawn
Primary
Voluntary
Referrals
16+
Home Start
Primary
Voluntary
Open & Referrals
All ages
Primary/ Secondary Primary
Universal/ Voluntary Voluntary
Organisation SDAS
Access Open & Referrals
Age Group 7+
Havant, Fareham, Gosport Havant Areas worked in Havant & East Hants
IDVA & ISVA service, DV Cars, & other projects, IRIS Refuge and support workers Support offered Refuge, Freedom Programme, Day Programme, Healthy Relationships, one-toones, support workers, drop in, outreach, support work
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New Forest There is an active Domestic Abuse Forum, but it is not easy to find out about. There is a refuge and housing support as well as a strong specialist DA provider similar to SDAS that works with young people, male perpetrators, victims, and works to raise awareness of DA issues. Yet again capacity does not meet need, and geographically the spread of services is uneven even with outreach. Primary/ Secondary Primary
Universal/ Voluntary Voluntary
Hampton Trust
Primary
Voluntary
Open & Referral
12+
Home Start
Primary
Voluntary
Open & Referrals
All ages
Fawley
New Forest Women's Refuge (Stonham) Nightstop
Primary
Voluntary
Open & Referrals
All ages
New Forest
Primary
Voluntary
Referrals
16-24
Ringwood
Ringwood YP Drop in The Handy Trust
Primary
Voluntary
Open
13-19
Ringwood
Primary
Voluntary
Open & Refferal
0-25
Hythe & Dibden and Marchwood
Organisation Cis’Ters
Age Group 18+
Access Open
Areas worked in Southampton, Hampshire, Isle of Wight Hampshire wide
Support offered Group support, one-to-ones. Perp programmes, healthy relationships, one-to-ones Refuge and support workers Refuge and support workers Emergency overnight accommodation Drop in, youth clubs Advice, helpline
Test Valley No active Domestic Abuse Forum. The crisis centre runs the Freedom Programme, counselling, outreach, drop-ins, and group sessions, but again capacity is limited and there is only one Child Support Worker in house. Youth projects in the area are active, but not specialist DA trained. Andover Crisis and Support Centre Organisation Youth in Romsey Youth Options
Primary
Voluntary
Primary/ Secondary Primary
Universal/ Voluntary Voluntary
Primary
Voluntary
Open and Referral
All ages
Andover
Open
Age Group 11+
Areas worked in Romsey
Open
12-18
Hampshire Wide
Access
Hostel, helping, counselling, advice Support Offered Advice and signposting Training, project
Winchester There is an active Domestic Abuse Forum, but it is not easy to find out about. There are the greatest numbers of youth related advice services here, however only two that relate directly to DA. The Trinity Centre is a small operation and does not have the capacity to meet the need in the city and surrounding areas. As HCC central, the area is well covered from a strategic/managerial level, however it is not backed up by strong specialist services on the ground like Havant. 25 | P a g e
EIS
Primary/ Secondary Secondary
Universal/ Voluntary Universal
Referral
Age Group 5+
Fixers
Primary
Voluntary
Open
16-24
HCC Early Help Hubs
Secondary
Universal
Referral
0-19
Relateen/UTalk (relate) Trinity Women’s Services
Primary
Voluntary
Open
11-25
Hampshire Wide (8 Hubs) Nationwide
Primary
Voluntary
Open & Referrals
16+
Winchester
Willow House (Stoneham)
Primary
Voluntary
Open & Referrals
16+
Winchester
Winchester Detached Youth Project – Street Reach Winchester Remix
Primary
Voluntary
Open
All ages
Winchester
Primary
Voluntary
Open
12-18
Winchester
Winchester YMCA Youth Tube
Primary
Voluntary
Open
16+
Winchester
Secondary
Voluntary
Open
13-24
Winchester
Organisation
Access
Areas worked in Hampshire wide Nationwide
Support offered Education Creative projects Strategic
Counselling Freedom Programme, Support Group, one-toones Refuge and support workers Advice and signposting
Drug and alcohol support Drop in advice service Website advice & signposting
Other For Southampton, there is a PIPPA Alliance which is more than a Domestic Abuse Forum and looks to work together as well as inform each other. It also has a professional’s helpline for advice about referrals and training. There are positive examples in Weymouth and Southampton of positive projects. The national organisations are among the most cited by the victims that participated in this research.
AVA
Primary/ Secondary Secondary
Universal/ Voluntary Voluntary
Open
Barnardos
Secondary
Voluntary
Open
Broken Rainbow
Primary
Voluntary
Open & Refferal
Age Group All ages All ages All ages
CAADA (IDVAs & YPP)
Secondary
Voluntary
Referrals
13+
Chapter 1
Primary
Voluntary
Open & referrals
16-25
Organisation
Access
Areas worked in Nationwide
Support Offered Strategic
Nationwide
Strategic
Nationwide
LGBT DA support groups and one-toones IDVA, YPP, YPVAs, Strategic, Policy, Training Refuge, Support Worker
Nationwide
Southampton, Portswood, Andover, and Basingstoke
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Childline (NSPCC) DVUK
Primary
Voluntary
Open
All ages All ages
Nationwide
Helpline
Secondary
Voluntary
Open
Nationwide
All ages 18+ All ages
Nationwide
Information and awareness raising Helpline
Get Connected
Primary
Voluntary
Open
NAPAC NCDV
Primary Secondary
Voluntary Voluntary
Open Open
No Limits
Primary
Voluntary
Open
16-24
Southampton
POTATO Refuge
Secondary Primary
Voluntary Voluntary
Open Open & Referrals Open & Referrals
18+ All ages All ages
Nationwide Nationwide
Solace Women’s Aid
Primary
Voluntary
Southampton Rape Crisis
Primary
Voluntary
Open & referrals
11+
Primary
Voluntary
Open & Referrals
11+
Standing Together Survive DV
Secondary
Voluntary
Open
Primary
Voluntary
Open & Referrals
All ages All ages
Southampton, Test Valley, New Forest, Eastleigh Southampton and now new pattern changing programme and Sue Penna YP programme offered wider London
Southampton Womens Aid
Voices Against Violence Waves Children’s Society
Secondary
Voluntary
Open
Primary
Voluntary
Open
Women’s Aid
Secondary
Voluntary
Open
Nationwide Guildford
London
Bristol
All ages All ages
Nationwide
All ages
Nationwide
Weymouth
Helpline Injunction Service, legal aid, referrals Various projects, drop in Support Group Strategic Counselling, advocacy, legal help, family services, refuge One-to-ones, group work, counselling, projects, STAR Pattern Changing, oneto-ones, group Sue Penna, Healthy Relationships
Strategic Outreach, family support, work in schools Strategic One-to-ones, group, therapy, counselling, drop in, advice Helpline, online resources, professional support, policy and campaigns
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NEEDED SERVICES From looking at what services are available across the county, it can be summarised that the areas needing most support for DA projects are (in order of priority); East Hants, Eastleigh, Hart and Rushmoor, and Test Valley. These are the areas that have no specialist DA support for young people, or only one with limited capacity, and limited generic youth provision. 1) In East Hants, as both generic services and specialist services are extremely limited, it would be best to establish a new ‘drop in’ style initiative in key towns such as Bordon and Hazlemere which are not covered by any existing service. In Alton this could be done through SDAS as they already run the Freedom Programme for adult victims there and have specialist young person projects across the county. In Petersfield the Kings Arms project already works with youths but has no funding or trained staff to carry out DA support work. 2) In Eastleigh, there are already a number of generic youth initiatives but no specialist DA providers. Due to the number of drop in youth groups and general advice services here it would be most beneficial to set up a new specialist DA project perhaps looking to emulate the types of specialist project that exist around the county within an organisation that already has a knowledge base of DA and experience working with vulnerable young people in the area. 3) In Hart and Rushmoor the Clearstone Trust already provides a good spectrum of interventions, however it is unclear how specific to DA these are. The organisation perhaps could benefit from further DA training and increased capacity to better serve the whole area with added outreach provision. 4) In Test Valley the Andover Crisis Centre has a good number of projects but limited capacity and outreach services which could benefit from further support. It is also possible that the more generic provisions in the area could work to put on more DA specific interventions and projects to help improve access to DA services.
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WHAT’S HAPPENING ELSEWHERE The research project was not limited to Hampshire. This was to look for areas of good practice, and to see what is working elsewhere which may be of use when considering how best for Hampshire to move forward and in looking for elements that are replicable.
LONDON In London, Standing Together acts to bring together all different facets of DA provision including statutory and voluntary, housing and management. The organisation provides training and seeks out partnerships as well as hosting specialist groups for different sectors to ensure mechanisms are working as they should. Standing Together says that it is most difficult to get health services to recognise the critical role they play in relation to DA. The organisation also has an innovative solution to the problem the issue of child contact can create for DA victims – they are one of only a few specialist DA contact centres in the country. If the court reports a conflict the parents get referred there, where specialists help mitigate the risk of further DA. They work with their local organisations to ensure that they understand what one another does and what referral protocols there are. Standing Together also believes PSHE needs overhauling, and that support should be long term not simply crisis led, short term work reliant on short term grants. They said there are significant gaps in provision for victims under 16, and also where it is the young person who is the perpetrator. A Women’s Aid’s National Children and Young People Officer, said they felt that that no one in power listened to frontline staff, which is why organisations such as Women’s Aid are key as they become the ‘middle man’. The post of Children and Young People Officer no longer exists since concluding this research ’ due to funding – meaning one of the largest strategic DA organisations is no longer able to represent children and young people at a national level where policy and campaigns are concerned. Children and Young People need representing at every stage of the process as they are a group who have no agency. A concern at the lack of universal standardised training on working with young people who have been exposed to DA was also raised. The officer cited Australia as an example of good practice whereby all social workers are given a standard 8 week DA training programme no matter what qualifications they already hold to ensure the knowledge is there. Throughout this research it has become clear that social workers and other key professionals need to be provided with more robust and relevant DA training. At CAADA’s annual conference (01/07/14) Barnardos spoke on how to make young persons’ services successful. They said that young people must feel included in their own journey and not be prescribed a set programme or be stereotyped into a ‘victim blueprint’. Barnardos believes that identifying a young person’s ‘safe person’ is the first important step – whether this be a family member, friend, or professional – the rest of the recovery must be built around the already stable relationship with this person. They also raised the issue of LGBT DA, and how people think it isn’t unusual when they see two men or two women fighting, when in fact it may be abuse. CAADA works with local authorities to help them take an early intervention and prevention approach in a more holistic format. Its Young People’s Programme proved to be effective where it was active. Unfortunately the programme failed to materialise in Hampshire, but this is a model that could be employed. Young people were supported with wellbeing, safety planning, navigating the criminal justice system, accessing housing, training, education, and benefits (CAADA, 2014b) and after two months the number experiencing DA dropped (see graph below taken from the report).
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When speaking with national helpline NAPAC (National Association for People Abused in Childhood) it was clear that better education was high on the wish list of provision for young people. There needs to be stronger pastoral care, and understanding on behalf of school staff. NAPAC also pointed out how the use of the term ‘child’ can be off-putting for many young people over the age of 12 and that the sector should reconsider terminology. A representative from second tier, London based service AVA (Against Violence and Abuse) said there is still a great deal of scope as to what can be done online to help inform young people and signpost them to support services. Centralised national campaigns such as ‘this is abuse’ are important to raise awareness and get young people talking. AVA are currently also undertaking a mapping exercise, as access to appropriate counselling and mentoring are crucial parts of the recovery process for young people.
SOUTH Bournemouth’s multi-agency working operates at a strategic county level working across boundaries with those in Poole to ensure that work is cohesive and that the strategy is solid. They put particular emphasis on prevention and repeat victimisation and also the problem of homelessness that DA creates. A number of professionals reported that they feel unsure of what each other does and who to go to for what. In Hampshire it was felt by professionals that the focus seems to be on ‘crisis point’ as opposed to prevention and long term support. It was felt that the approach is comparatively disjointed, whilst Southampton based services often work within Hampshire, Portsmouth services are thought of as being slightly insular. Devon and Cornwall’s Operation Encompass is proving to be effective according to Isle of Wight Assistant PCC and Safeguarding lead Laura Franklin. This is where a designated person phones the school to warn teachers if a family member of a child has been arrested the night before, allowing the school to be more flexible and supportive to that child’s needs and mitigating the risk of exclusion. Operation Serenity is taking place on the Island, which ensures mental health professionals are present with the police where needed. Franklin also said that she personally feels creative solutions are beneficial, and that more needs to be done to break the taboos surrounding DA. Weymouth offered another interesting example, where there is a branch of the Children’s’ Society called Waves which is focused on DA support for children and young people as opposed to simply over 16, like so many DA specialists. Waves is a drop in service and has several strands of provision including family mediation, mentoring, anger management, healthy relationships in schools, counselling, and signposting. 30 | P a g e
Long term support is provided at the point of need. They also use ‘Human Givens’ therapy12 which has proved to work effectively with DA victims, as it reduces the effect of traumatic memories. What is most interesting about the project is that each worker has a caseload, and it is the caseload that determines what kind of interventions are put on and what approaches the facilitators are trained in. This bottom up approach is different to most services that have a core set of interventions which service users are slotted into. Here the whole project is structured around the family’s need, which is much more effective. Southampton has a variety of services available for those affected by DA. Southampton Women’s Aid provides a number of projects for women including a pattern changing programme (practical not emotional support like the Freedom Programme), outreach services, one-to-ones, healthy relationships in schools, and recently has been certified to carry out the Sue Penna DA programme13 with children and young people. At present funding only allows this to be carried out in Southampton as with the two YPVA’s which are the first two in the locality. The organisation lost its funding for the programme with the lower age group (6-11) and there is now concern that these children have been left unsupported by a gap in services. Georgie Davie, Service Manager says that more needs to be done in schools, with links to help services from the school website, and that schools should be monitored on the delivery of such things. She said:
“It’s about young people having a voice and changing attitudes about what is acceptable. We have done it with race, and we are a good way there with sexuality, but domestic abuse is still a taboo subject. We need to ask the question when we have the chance as it might be the only opportunity a survivor has to access help"
She also stressed how considering the situation from a family perspective is of great importance to give that holistic fully rounded approach from all angles. Catch 22 and No Limits are two exemplar drop-in services that were consistently spoken of at DA events around the county which tailor what they do to the needs of the young person. Catch 22 at one stage facilitated up to ten different programmes but due to funding has scaled this back to two. Its flagship Young Women Support Service works with 16-24 year olds at risk of exploitation or offending that are victims of crime, or in inappropriate relationships. The service helps with the practical things like access to doctors, help with budgets and other things they may not have been taught by their parents. Ange Pilgrim, Services Co-ordinator at Catch 22 says that it is a gap filling and signposting service as opposed to dedicated DA which she believes works better as it is more approachable by young people. There is a trained IDVA in house but she is not advertised to young people as such because of the stigma around the label of an IDVA which young people struggle to warm to. She said:
“You need to build a rapport with a young person as they drip feed you until they are ready to talk. For this reason simple crisis management isn’t enough, it’s about longer term involvement and ensuring young people feel they can knock on the door with any issue or no issue at all”
12
A type of one to one therapy that is traditionally used to help returning soldiers experiencing post traumatic stress disorder and which has more recently been shown to have a positive effect on DA victims 13 A new programme devised by Sue Penna to help CYP work through their issues after experiencing domestic abuse.
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Catch 22 staff also offer a hand-holding style service to try and ensure young people engage in provisions such as CAMHS when they do get access to them. Mental Health is not prioritised according to Pilgrim, when it should be a primary concern. Pilgrim also pointed out the lack of provision and research into the specialist needs of the LGBT and BME communities when it comes to DA, and that this is an area that could benefit from more funding attention. Southampton Rape Crisis is also a key service in the area. Although focused on sexual abuse, this obviously often overlaps with physical and emotional abuse. The centre has one-to-one therapy sessions and emotional coping skills groups as well as a helpline and counselling. They also have a specialist young person’s counselling service for 11 plus, and a creative workshop. From the family angle there is a family therapy service too. SRC also delivers the STAR (Start Talking About Relationships) courses in all Southampton schools. This level of provision does not exist across Hampshire. The way these sexual abuse specific services work is very relevant to this piece of research as unlike most dedicated DA agencies, its work is with historic traumas in the main, and not ongoing abuse. The focus on longer term interventions, and different work with each group, is something to be learnt from.
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PRIMARY RESEARCH WITH PARTICIPANTS STAGE 1 Stage 1 comprised finding local services that work within the field of domestic abuse, whether that be with perpetrators, victims, and/or young people who fit into the victim and/or perpetrator category. 70 professionals were contacted in total, and there was a participation rate of 74 per cent with 52 professionals engaging either through the questionnaire and/or face to face interviews and focus groups. 39 questionnaire responses were received out of 52 sent giving us a 75 per cent response rate, and 22 one to one interviews were conducted. Out of the 39 questionnaire respondents, 20 were second tier services and 19 were frontline practitioners. The graphs below show the responses of the frontline practitioners.
Local Authority Support Respondents were asked if they felt they had the support of their local authority (beyond financial)
19%
No
Sustainability
Yes
Respondents were asked how long their projects have secured funding for Less than 1yr 81%
Between 1 & 2yrs 12% 3yrs plus 19%
Possibility to Expand Respondents were asked if they felt given the opportunity their service could expand to meet the needs of 11-19yr olds who had experienced DA
69%
Yes
100%
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STAGE 2 Stage two comprised accessing adult victims who experienced DA as a young person. This was done working with professionals from stage 1 to access victims who were open to speaking and sharing their experiences. In total 12 women took part in the one to one interviews. Currently experiencing abuse
DA Services Accessed
Children
Eastleigh
No
Refuge
Yes
Other
Southampton
Yes
Women’s Aid
Yes
White
None
Eastleigh
No
Refuge
Yes
Female
White
None
St Denys
Prefer not to say
Women’s Aid
Yes
50+
Female
White
Christian
Basingstoke
No
Daybreak
Yes
Jade
4050
Female
Asian
Sikh
Hedge End
No
Women’s Aid
Yes
Lily
3040
Female
White
None
Basingstoke
No
Melanie
1824
Female
White
None
Cosham
No
Nadia
50+
Female
White
Christian
Southampton
No
Women’s Aid
Yes
Sandy
2430
Female
Asian
Sikh
Eastleigh
No
None
Yes
Sienna
1824
Female
Black
Christian
Eastleigh
No
Refuge
Yes
Suzy
3040
Female
White
None
Aldershot
Yes
None
Yes
Referred to as14
Age
Gender
Ethnicity
Religion
Bethan
4050
Female
White
Catholic
Clarissa
3040
Female
White
Debbs
2430
Female
Fiona
2030
Ginny
14
Location
Taking Steps Aurora New Dawn
Yes No
All names of adult and young person participants have been changed for confidentiality reasons
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Case Study – Clarissa Clarissa first experienced DA within her own family when she was a toddler. At 11 she got into her first relationship which was abusive – he was two years older and spat at her and called her names. At 13 she experienced mental abuse from an 18 year old and at 16 she met her partner of 8 and a half years who was also abusive whilst she was pregnant. At 29 she met her most recent ex who was ‘the worst one’ – he abused her while she was pregnant and strangled and punched her in her sleep. She kept going back to him because she was more scared of being alone and had nowhere to turn just like when she was younger. He went to prison for 2 incidents but the case was dropped on the third most serious where she was admitted to hospital for head injuries because the two witnesses (including an 11 year old) did not want to appear in court due to fear. The contact process meant that she was forced to see him again which meant she ended up back with him. He started to attack her son and that is when she knew she had to get out. Since leaving she has been harassed by his family and new girlfriend in person and via social media. She was admitted to a psychiatric unit, due to the pressure of caring for her dad, son, and the continuing harassment. She was diagnosed with emotionally unbalanced borderline personality disorder, depression, anxiety, and post traumatic stress disorder. She said the psychiatric hospital was not helpful as they did not turn up or check up on her after when she had several relapses. She said that no one understood that she was still in love with him and that the process needed to be gradual. She tried to protect him even after hospital. Clarissa said that the police weren’t great at understanding but she had one officer that really fought her corner with the CPS and other organisations. She has complaints open with the CPS as she feels as though there has been no justice and no closure. Clarissa spoke of how her social worker had been fantastic in supporting her but not her children. She went to them asking for help as she realised she
needed support. Her daughter has had some contact and support in school as she suffers with anxiety from what happened. She has also had the support of Solent Mind, and Women’s Aid whom she said had been really fantastic. In the beginning she didn’t realise what DA was as there was no support for her when she was going through it all as a teenager. Instead she turned to drink and drugs as a way of coping which led to further problems. She said more needs to be done to help young people spot the signs and to re-establish boundaries after an abusive relationship. It is about learning how to be safe again. Her ex was very clever at manipulating services and others around her to make it look as though she was the bad one. He was attacking her and threatening to kill her once while she was on the phone to the police and they still didn’t prosecute. She said:
“He always turns it around, and they believe him. They don’t understand the level of manipulation he has not just over me but them too. It’s incredibly frustrating.” She also said she felt the doctor should have noticed things sooner and reached out to her. She said he was not sensitive to mental health needs, and hospitals didn’t understand either making her feel as though it was all in her head - even throwing her out once without a proper discharge, anywhere to stay and without her medication. Clarissa feels extremely let down by the hospitals and by the CPS. The court said they would get her a screen which she liked. She had no early support and to her violence was normal because she grew up with it – she was never told or taught different. Her ex was abused as a child and saw his mum beaten by many different men and so he didn’t know any different either. She said there needs to be more support at school and a standard of training for teachers and all professionals that come into contact with potential victims. Schools need to realise there is usually a reason behind the naughtiness but this never looked into.
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STAGE 3 Stage three comprised accessing young people who had experienced DA. This was done working with professionals from stage 1 to access young people who were open to speaking and sharing their experiences. In total 10 young people took part in the one to one interviews. Currently experiencing abuse
Services Accessed
Children
Eastleigh
No
Refuge
No
Christian
Eastleigh
No
YOT
No
White
None
Winchester
Yes
Victim Support
No
Female
White Irish
Other
Southampton
No
Miriam House
Yes
1316
Female
White
None
Andover
No
None
No
Izzy
1820
Female
White
None
Southampton
No
None
Yes
Jamie
1316
Male
Mixed
None
Eastleigh
Yes
Refuge
No
Jayne
1820
Female
White
Christian
New Milton
Yes
Fixers
Yes
Leo
1820
Trans
White
None
Andover
No
Andover Crisis Centre
No
Raj
1618
Male
Asian
Other
Eastleigh
No
Refuge
No
Referred to as15
Age
Gender
Ethnicity
Religion
Aaron
1113
Male
Asian
Hindu
Carly
1618
Female
White
Chrissy
1316
Female
Danny
1617
Hannah
15
Location
All names of adult and young person participants have been changed for confidentiality reasons
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Case Study – Carly Carly started by talking about her most recent abusive relationship that she got into when she was 15, he was 18. He hit her, was controlling in every way, snatched her phone, and head butted her. From the moment she woke up through getting dressed and walking to school and even in lessons and breaks she had to be on the phone to him. When she got home she wasn’t allowed to talk to her family but had to sit in her room and talk to him. He picked what she wore and made her wear excessive make up (including multiple pairs of false eye lashes) because of his severe obsession with porn. He hit, slapped, and burnt her, he pushed her down the stairs, pulled her hair out, and even attempted to stab her once. This relationship ended in March, but the court case didn’t finish until July. This only arose because a male friend of hers saw him being violent towards her and phoned the police. It was only then she felt she could tell her story, once someone else told her it wasn’t right. He completely isolated her, made her dependent on him. When Carly was little her dad abused her mum. He also attacked her on occasion including trying to drown her and throw her over the banister. She was about 4-5. After her mum and dad split, her mum got straight into another abusive relationship, and he was an alcoholic and violent towards her. Carly ran away. When she was 12/13 she fell into a gang, as the situation at home was so bad she wanted to be out all of the time. In this new group she was gang raped multiple times by boys between the ages of 14-26. She said:
“I didn’t know if it was right, I didn’t know if it was wrong, but I knew I didn’t like it, but I also knew there was nothing I could do”. At this age Carly said she felt as though it was her fault that this is what she deserved, just like her mum. Carly never thought to talk about it; he threatened her and kept her too afraid so she tried to bury it. She was used to dealing with things on her own as she never had support from the family as they all had their own problems. She got admitted to the YCP after trying to commit suicide, which she did by stealing paracetomol.She said her punishment was YCP, although that is actually what has helped her turn her life around. She self harmed a lot and said, “Self harming was a way to show people my mental pain”.
She said that people just don’t get it and professionals need to understand more. She felt she had so many problems that not one professional would understand. When in her last abusive relationship Carly said she knew it was wrong but it was what she was used to. At school she said pupil support was great, but they just kept phoning social services and the police whose responses were not useful to her. Teachers had a go at her, she was bullied. She was allocated an anti-social behaviour officer thus dealing with the resultant behaviour not the root cause. Her life at home, school, and with her ‘peers’ was awful. She wanted a safe space, a way out. She needed someone to ask her if she was ok. As she grew up she started to realise what had happened to her was wrong as she learnt about rape and abuse though the media. She said the BBC documentary ‘Murdered by my boyfriend’ was basically her life. She said there needs to be more awareness raising in the media. She also said there should be more in schools, they had an acting group come in to demonstrate abuse but there was nothing else after – no support. She said that there needs to be more interactive methods of getting the message across. Once she had split up with her abusive boyfriend, she said she was almost accorded too much freedom. People gave her too much space and let her get away with everything (going out for cigarettes in lessons etc.). She needed structure – good control not the bad control she was used to. She couldn’t handle the amount of freedom and started to act out and started drinking. She needed guidance on how best to use this new found freedom productively and for good. At this point she had at least 10 professionals in contact with her, but they did not communicate with each other well. Not one of them understood the full scope of her problems and each one of them assumed some of her other needs were being looked after by another professional and so she actually felt more alone. She thinks that the YCP were the main help for her alongside youth clubs. She needed more help with how to get back to normal, and what normal actually is. She also said her IDVA was brilliant and that there should be similar support for under 16 and more for 16-18. She said she thinks there should be more healthy relationships stuff in schools and that having one key person is really important. She also said that social services should have helped her earlier and that respect for girls is poor in society and that this needs to be addressed through the media as well. 36 | P a g e
MAIN THEMES From analysing each stage (including the focus groups from stage 1), some key themes have been deduced in terms of what support exists and what support is needed. The graph below depicts how many professionals felt there were significant gaps in services as shown on their questionnaires. They were asked to tick next to which service area was lacking in relation to young people who have experienced domestic abuse and they could tick all or none.
Counselling/Health Youth Projects Respite Housing Education Council Based Services Probation/Justice Other
0
5
10
15
20
25
Throughout the first stage it was clear that despite professionals coming from different backgrounds and organisations (or ‘planets’ in Hester terms) there was a distinct set of themes coming through on which the majority were in agreement. The graph below depicts how many adults and young people felt supported by the types of services as shown on their questionnaires. They were asked to tick next to which service area they felt supported by throughout their journey and they could tick all or none.
Charities Adults Housing
Young People
Counselling/Health None Council Based Services Education Probation/Justice Youth Projects 0
2
4
6
8
10
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FINDINGS Below is a culmination of the main findings from each stage of the research. The information presented is from the participants of stage one, two, and three as a result of the one to ones, questionnaires, observations, and focus groups. The text is an elaboration of the core themes that arose, and a reflection of the participants’ thoughts and feelings on what needs to be improved in the field of domestic abuse and young people in Hampshire. Terminology Services and professionals in all sectors agree that there must be a move from referring to ‘DV’ and instead use the term abbreviation ‘DA’ as domestic violence does not incorporate the elements of emotional abuse and coercive control that go along with the physical/violent side of abuse. It is believed that miscommunication of terms can sometimes lead to funding being directed to the wrong places. This change of usage is more important than ever with the change in government definition and the new laws coming into place surrounding coercive control. Also using the term ‘exposure’ covers direct abuse and abuse in the surrounding environment and so it is a better term to use especially with young people. It was felt that YPVAs need to be renamed, as the title is not very young person friendly. They should also have a joint remit to help young people deal with the practicalities of moving on and a softer remit to help with the emotional side of things according to a number of frontline DA professionals.
“You refuse to admit that you are a victim, that word hurts, & so you don’t access services for victims as you don’t see yourself as one.” - Sandy
Early Help Hub Partnership Manager, Jayne Shelbourn-Barrow stressed the importance of moving away from the term ‘referral’ towards ‘request for support’ to ensure victims receive consistency. Referral can often sound as though something has been completely passed over when in DA cases it is not always as clear cut as that.
There is also disagreement on the use of the term ‘victim’ and that ‘survivor’ is more empowering and accurate as it symbolises the journey of the person. Providers also stated that funders too often want things in ‘adult language’ when it is the voices of the young people that need to be communicated. Something new that was expressed by the focus group was that young people and children in domestic abuse settings should be classed as young carers. The people in the room did not know if this was the case at the time and after speaking with the young carers’ team at One Community it was clear it is not. These young people often have to do more to support the victim and siblings both emotionally and physically and so carry the responsibilities parallel to those of young carers. Communication, cooperation, and coordination Frontline professionals were unsure whether research and conferences were being duplicated. They need to be more targeted, with precise outcomes and tangible benefits to frontline organisations. The young people used to illustrate scenarios at many conferences are often not from the marginalised, vulnerable backgrounds that most service users are and can give an inaccurate representation the situation. Extra care must be taken when putting together such events to ensure accuracy is at the forefront.
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Early Help Hubs are now operational in the county and they seek to streamline efforts and ensure those who fall below thresholds are supported adequately. Hub professionals are concerned that DA professionals do not attend hub meeting and DA professionals are concerned hub professionals do not attend DA meetings. Hampshire Early Help Hub is setting up a web based 0-19yr old directory searchable by age and service – something which they have the capacity to keep up to date. It would make sense to tie this in with the Hampshire Domestic Abuse forum website somehow. Hampshire is looking at having one directory. Some professionals thought that the reason this hasn’t happened is because Hampshire County Council is concerned that they will be viewed to be endorsing the services listed and that they would have to certify them in terms of DBS checks and training etc. They would feel liable if service users had a discrepancy or complaint with a service. Hopefully this could be resolved through the use of a disclosure statement. Many professionals that participated said they feel the ‘multi-agency approach’ doesn’t actually exist. Women who participated felt that when they actively sought help for the good of their children this was not taken into account by other agencies. Jude Ruddock Atcherley, Hampshire County Council Strategic Domestic Abuse Manager said that the county would benefit from there being a centrally coordinated team to pull everything together and ensure a minimum level of training is delivered. Multi-agency meetings and DA forums need to be more active with greater participation and efficacy in sharing information and practices. The focus group felt agencies are not able to provide the multiagency approach due to the low engagement of statutory organisations as well as concerns surrounding competition between frontline providers for funding. The competitiveness around bidding is a hurdle to cooperation for many organisations and the whole funding process is not conducive to victim centred, holistic, coordinated working. Professionals in the third sector want to embrace the multi-agency approach but feel that statutory agencies are unable to provide the support needed due to capacity. The focus group were in agreement that voluntary services are left to do the jobs that statutory organisations do not have the capacity to take on, with limited extra support - financial or otherwise. This is why ensuring the multiagency approach develops into a strong mechanism is so important to guarantee that wherever victims enter the system they receive the best possible service. A number of professionals said that many working in the sector are not aware of who runs their local DA forum. Some participants who said that despite DA being a large part of their remit, they were still unsure about the levels of organisations and groups (such as MASH, MARAC, Early Help Hubs, etc.) and so greater clarification is needed.
“One agency tells me I’m on the right track and then the other doesn’t even look at the positive steps I am taking, its infuriating.” - Fiona
Frontline professionals also feel there is a need for clearer communication within and between agencies. It is felt by professionals that communication channels are overlooked. Frontline professionals believe they know what is best for their service users and they felt that funders can set funding criteria which are deemed by those seeking funding as unrealistic and not meeting the needs of service users. According to the focus group, professionals stressed the need for support by senior management to understand the need to have some leeway to be flexible in their working with young people even if slightly outside central job remit or timescales (within safeguarding parameters). For example if a young person is on a programme for a set amount of time but near the end of that time is re-traumatised for some reason, then the professional is allowed to use their professional judgement as to how to continue with that 40 | P a g e
young person as opposed to simply cutting them off. For this level of understanding to be reached throughout management levels there needs to be a central set of guidelines and best practice when it comes to training to help remove poor practice and enhance understanding of the complexity of DA issues. The re-commissioning process that is underway in Hampshire is of great concern to many organisations. The way it is organised could favour larger organisations with less specialist knowledge and less of a focus on preventative measures and the needs of children and young people. The focus group spoke of how people only measure what is easy to measure, not what needs measuring. It was mentioned that a good example is the ‘keys to resilience’ used by Barnardo’s which tries to create a more accurate measuring system. Claire Chatwin of SDAS said that the crèche costs and travel costs need to be taken into consideration by funders as these are massive hurdles to young people accessing their services. One area of collaboration that is often overlooked is the community engagement element of organisations. This is when local businesses donate gifts and food for women and children at risk as well as care packages and escape packs with essential items like toothbrushes and clean underwear for those who were forced to make a quick escape. This kind of work and its impact is not measurable in ways that funders want and can understand but certainly does have a massive impact on the service and their users. It would be great if there were incentives for businesses to get involved in these kind of initiatives. Timing and access All professionals were uncomfortable with the term ‘post’ domestic abuse. A victim can be re-victimised or re-traumatised at any point and this is especially the case with young people. With this is mind it is imperative that support is not time bound, and is individual to each case, not merely crisis led. For instance once a family is moved out of refuge they are assumed to be no longer vulnerable to abuse, but this is often when the perpetrator will retry to gain contact and the cycle of abuse can begin again. Gillian Finch from CIS’ters stresses that survivors must be able to access for as long as they need.
“Post DA cannot be dealt with in isolation. Victims and perpetrators are a moving target; there are multiple phases of DA and it is dangerous to categorise in this way” Debbie Willis, Hampton Trust A number of professionals also mentioned the lack of pathway when someone is on a waiting list for a targeted support service for them to access more generalised services in the interim. This was echoed by the sentiment of the women and young people that participated – feeling that they were often dropped by services. The focus group felt there is a need to move away from this ‘fixed you’ attitude and accept that DA means a person of whatever age may need a little extra support for some time and that there is no single formula to right the wrongs that have been done to that person. The post code lottery issue is pertinent. At the focus group, professionals discussed how this particularly affects access for more rural areas and those who are most vulnerable financially as services often do not have the budget or staffing to provide outreach to the most hard to reach families. This problem of access is where schools could play a vital role if they had internal youth workers. Capacity Capacity is a massive problem across the country as well as the county due to the economic restraints of the time. However with young people, research has shown time and time again that if interventions are put in earlier, money will be saved in the long run. In Rushmoor and Hart there are around 16000 case of
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DA presented to professionals each year but only the capacity to work with around 30 according to Karen Evans (DA Forum Chair). Training Key frontline and second tier professionals feel that they do not have adequate DA training. According to participants this includes Early Help Hub professionals, police, teachers, health professionals, and social workers; all of which are not always equipped to ask the right questions. Over 70 per cent of social worker caseloads is likely to be DA related and yet social work students often have one lesson a year on the subject according to the Hampton Trust who often have social work students on placement. Gillian Finch from CIS-ters believes that health professionals would benefit from additional input to their understanding. Portsmouth have taken up training opportunities but Hampshire are still to make that commitment. She also said that there is a distinct lack of societal awareness. For example when women go to the optician or dentist and are required to be alone with an individual they are not always asked if they want to be accompanied by a woman. CAADA advocates the use of a ‘champion’ in each workplace for any worker to go to for guidance if they are unsure in any given situation. This could work to solve gaps in training and communication.
“My mum didn’t want to talk about it, it would have been good if someone had just asked her if everything was ok.” - Jamie
Professionals and participants felt that primary schools are far better equipped to emotionally support children on these difficult issues through nurture groups. Secondary schools however appear to have a lack of understanding as well as capacity and ‘tend to focus on making a child independent when a child who has experienced DA needs to learn dependence properly before taking back on the independence they were forced to take on too early’ according to Jennifer Bevis-Lacey of POTATO.
One severe example of malpractice was from Sandy who said that a support worker said to her: “If he wasn’t holding a knife to your throat how was he forcing you”. This ignorance shows the desperate need for better training across the board, to stop victim blaming and re-traumatisation. Social media Social media can still seem quite intimidating for many services that work with young people however some services such as Aurora New Dawn, for example think that such media are the most effective way to spread healthy relationship messages and information on where to go for support. Shonagh Dillon from Aurora New Dawn says:
“Social media is a way for us to go to them. NSPCC and Barnardos use social media so why not smaller local organisations. It should be part of the wider DA strategy and there should be research into how this can be done safely and effectively to increase access, raise awareness, and engage young people”
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Wayne Kerr of Fixers felt that social network abuse is an issue not taken seriously enough and one that organisations are not equipped to deal with. ‘The dark web16’ is an area that professionals need to take seriously and proactively train their staff on the individual issues that come along with it with regards to abuse such as intercepting messages, targeting friends and family, and trolling. Mental health and counselling Refuge staff voiced concerns about the lack of suitable counselling available. An Early Help Hub professional expressed concerns about the suitability of what counselling is available and the length of time young people are having to wait and then the short period they are able to access. They said:
“Thresholds appear to be at such a high level and unlikely to be changed as there isn’t the capacity to be lenient with such requirements, which may mean there are many standard and medium risk people that are not able to receive support until their situation escalates, which is of concern”
“The Doc just put me on pills. He was just so cold, I didn’t want to ask anyone for help after that.” - Bethan
The Hampton Trust states that young people with ADHD and other behavioural disorders are often referred to them even if they haven’t experienced DA in any way but that isn’t what the service is for. This is due to capacity problems with specialist mental health teams in the county. Shonagh Dillon from Aurora New Dawn describes this as the ‘noman’s land between CAMHS and the third sector’ where victims get left behind. Many professionals, adults, and young people believe that mentoring services can help plug the gap.
Bethany Eames of Eastleigh Youth Counselling felt that so many children and young people affected by DA are too high need for standard youth counselling but do not reach CAMHS thresholds. She is currently working on a pilot project in Winchester that is youth counselling with a group element added for young people and their parents, plus play therapy for younger children. Many participants felt that GPs, midwives, and other key health professionals do not ask appropriate questions to identify DA. Many of the women spoke of doctors who just wrote them off with pills instead of asking more. Aurora New Dawn has been using IRIS (Identification Referral to Improve Safety) in Southampton to work with GPs helping them to ask the right questions. They do not have the funding to expand into the county. Some professionals suggested that a certain level of mental health training should be more accessible. Although this would not be suitable in the
“Mentoring in school really helped me. It is good to know someone is there for me.” - Aaron
16
‘The dark web’ is a term used to describe the lesser known parts of the internet which can include online grooming, stalking, cyber-bullying, trolling, and revenge porn, all of which can be incorporated within DA.
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most high need cases. Education Professionals and victims were in agreement that healthy relationships should be a part of PSHE in every school, delivered by specialist external agencies that most importantly have the capacity to be able to work with any young people that disclose during the sessions. Many professionals believe there needs to be a national standard of PSHE which includes healthy relationships as well as other areas such as human rights. A senior police figure said that although commissioners are less favourable towards such sessions as the impact is not quantifiable, DA prevention should primarily be the responsibility of the health and education sectors.
“Schools focus on the sex part of the relationship, but for young people sex doesn’t even have to come into the abuse. Young people need to learn about healthy relationships to avoid becoming a perpetrator or a victim” Hannah Scott, Trinity Women’s Service Claire Chatwin from SDAS believes that schools would benefit from a male and a female facilitator to carry out such work and also to model positive male/female relationships. A sentiment that was prominent with a number of professionals is that fields such as education and support programmes are often very female heavy and so it is important to try and demonstrate positive male role modelling wherever possible. The majority of professionals said that individual “At school they just teachers do understand the issues but some are glossed over it. I was often too quick to exclude without looking for the just punished by them reasons behind the bad behaviour. Once a child is as well as him.” NEET the odds are against them and so keeping them - Fiona in education is vital to stop the cycle continuing. Focus group participants felt that some schools would benefit from a wider understanding that a young person’s world is much bigger than school. A number of participants said they had come across teachers and staff in schools who have told them ‘we do not have that here’ in relation to DA that shows there is a need for training on such issues and for it to be integrated into PSHE to ensure that all teachers are equipped to deal with disclosures or presented behaviours. Professionals agreed that there is a massive gap in preventative education and that course providers across the county struggle to get into schools, and if they do to then sustain the work. They explained that there is no extra funding or capacity for such work and felt this is why schools struggle to take ownership of healthy relationship education despite the constant message that it should be part of PSHE. One education professional highlighted that there are significant concerns regarding potential DA when parents electively home educate. The law states a child must be educated, but not necessarily in school so any parent can legally take responsibility for their child’s education. It must be noted that in the vast majority of cases the education of a child who is EHE is safe and secure and that no cases were identified in this research. However monitoring of EHE children is difficult as LA’s do not have an automatic right of entry to see the child. Furthermore, if the child has never attended a school then they are not known to
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the LA unless the parents have chosen to voluntarily inform the LA. This highlights a need for further research in this area as there could be a potential safeguarding risk in families that experience DA. There is also the problem of children who do not attend school. In the county the Education Inclusion Service works to ensure that young people who access pupil referral units and who have experienced DA are referred to or made aware of relevant services, where they exist. The focus group discussed how some of the most vulnerable young people are actually outside of the education system and although this is one window we must work to ensure the more hidden victims are accessing support. This could include youth clubs, church groups, and other less specialist localised groups that young people access. Healthy relationship session delivery is also seen as a key tool in tackling teenage relationship abuse, whereby young people get into abusive relationships themselves. Wayne Kerr of Fixers says young people often get into a cycle of selfblame and explaining abuse away by justifying it with ‘he does it because he loves me’. A number of professionals felt that basic sex education is poorly taught due to lack of training and that such issues cannot be looked at in isolation but as a complete programme of all related factors such as teenage pregnancy, DA, drug and alcohol usage, and healthy relationships.
“If they had taught me about healthy relationships at school I would never got into an abusive relationship. I didn’t know that it was wrong” - Chrissy
The young people who participated think mainstream media have a big role to play in educating and raising awareness among young people.Through docu-dramas like ‘Murdered by my Boyfriend’ and ‘Cyberbully’ the message gets across. They also think they would be more knowledgeable if organisations utilised social media better and if schools used innovative and interactive ways to teach more relevant things than are currently taught in PSHE classes. Drop in/respite In Eastleigh, the CYP worker from the refuge believes there are so many venues that could be used for such a service but she was not aware of anyone specially trained in DA with funding to carry out workshops or drop-ins. The lack of such services is particularly pertinent in rural areas. At the focus group there was a discussion about how splintered society has become and that the “I just needed somewhere to lack of sense of community now means that people escape to. I thought it was my fault, I just needed to are less likely to talk to people to disclose that they talk to someone that knows about life to assure me it are facing problems. It was felt by participants that wasn’t” - Chrissy a kind of one stop shop drop in service such as Catch22 or No Limits in Southampton where a young person can go to speak with someone about anything from job searching to budgeting, or healthy relationships, and sexual health would be beneficial. These services are the places where young people will often find that one person whom they can trust, and where disclosures are most likely. These services must be accessible to all with an open door policy – a place for young people to be free from stigmatisation and labelling. This then provides that supportive
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ce a. I o
environment for what may be a very isolated young person, and therefore is more likely to encourage disclosure. A Victim Support professional said that respite style interventions and projects are needed as young victims often ‘live in the moment’ and do not like to commit to long term programmes even if these are more beneficial. Respite space is also crucial for when young people are going through the court process according to Wayne Kerr, as young people can still be living under the same roof as the perpetrator at this point which puts them at great risk and could be detrimental to the court process. Lynne Thompsel of Miriam House says that respite short term accommodation should be available for young people in the 2/3 days after an incident to give them space to consider their options and to access support from professionals for whom it may not be appropriate to visit them at home. Housing Social housing for 16 plus is also a barrier. Young people are often put in shared accommodation or “Why didn’t they remove hostels which, while taking them out of one him? Everyone was blaming me when I was the victim – inappropriate environment, can move them to it’s all so backwards.” another where there is not enough support. Young - Nadia people in the refuge said one hurdle for them was the lack of internet. This makes it hard to keep in contact with support networks and at school with the inability to do homework and chat online. The youth worker at the refuge said that it may sound like something small, but without it a young person’s world is turned upside down. Access would have to be monitored and relevant safeguarding put in place to ensure the perpetrator did not use it to continue abuse. Many professionals in the sector say that after young people are placed with them there is a risk “I was told by the police that local authorities see the case as closed. They to move out of the area. I was angry that I had to feel this is potentially harmful as independent living move and lose my is often a point of intense vulnerability for young support, not him.” people exposed to domestic abuse or in an abusive - Jayne relationship and staff are not always trained in this area despite it taking up a large proportion of their workload. Many of the women brought up the fact that it always seemed to be the woman that is forced to move and lose her friends and family network as well as disrupt the lives of the children. One suggested that instead of refuges, there should be places for perpetrators to be sent to where they can access programmes to help them change their behaviour, as they are the problem. YPVAs and refuge youth workers Few refuges have the funding to provide a dedicated children’s worker which means that the needs of children and young people living in refuges are often overlooked, leading to further isolation as it is the mother’s needs that are put first. In Eastleigh there is one children’s worker who provides play sessions, helps get children into new schools and get the right equipment, and access youth projects as well as advocacy work.
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“The biggest difficulty for children in refuge is that they cannot have friends like other kids, or tell the truth about where they live or why. They are constantly surrounded by emotional instability which isn’t fun and also often the staff are female. They have no time or space to get to grips with the realities of what happened to them and someone who is there just for them can provide that” Fiona Waters, Eastleigh Refuge
Jude Ruddock Atcherley says that there is a need for specialist IDVAs for young people, BME, and LGBT cases all of which have their own individual needs. Leo is a transgender young man who has experienced DA from an early age from his parents due to his gender identity and then by his partners. As transgender and gay he reported that he felt as though there is zero understanding by professionals of his situation and resultantly zero help. Leo feels that LGBT issues need to be included in training around DA and that services must be able to deal with gender identity – he felt that social workers and police officers were afraid of him because of who he is. There are no specific LGBT DA groups in the area as organisations do not have the expertise according to Leo to support such initiatives. Leo said that DA is common in transgender relationships and as a transgender individual you feel like you won’t ever get anyone else – it is a very isolating existence making you vulnerable and attracted to the wrong kind of people. Jayne echoed Leo’s sentiment and said that women abuse women too. “They ([refuge youth One IDVA said that services for adult victims often notify the school of any children but that is often it. Current IDVAs are now required to work with 16 and 17 year olds in line with the new definition but no additional training has been completed when the needs of this age group are often very different to the needs of 18 plus. Too often the women in refuges are the young people who have been failed by the system earlier in their life.
worker] always try the best with what they have. She helped me get into college and now I have a job.” - Raj
A key theme that was repeated across the focus group was the need for a young person to have trust in a single person whether that be a family member, a social worker, a health professional, a teacher, a youth worker, or anyone that is in regular contact with that child. It was acknowledged that a young person who has experienced DA is unlikely to trust an adult easily and so this relationship could be considered the first successful intervention. Male victims and young people who perpetrate There is a ‘dualism of vulnerability and problematic behaviour’ according to the Hampton Trust who states that up to 90 per cent of young people on the LINX programme also perpetrate towards a parent or a sibling. The majority of professionals state that we are often too focused on victims that we do not attempt to deal with the root of the problem – perpetrators who have not been taught the correct coping mechanisms. It is not about anger management as perpetrators are perfectly capable of managing their anger in public; it is about challenging learned behaviours and concepts of power and control dynamics.
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Although females are still more statistically likely to suffer from abuse, there are male victims and there “He was abused as a child and that was his excuse. I are limited services to cater for them. Males who felt sorry for him so ignored suffer abuse are likely to present in different ways the bad in him.” - Melanie and are less likely to disclose, so different interventions are required to help them engage in the recovery process. Like LGBT and BME, men are a minority group in this sector, even more so if that male is a young person. A number of professionals commented how young people that perpetrate are often an overlooked problem, dismissed as part of the ‘growing up process’ when in vulnerable families it can be behaviour replication from viewing other victim-perpetrator relationships, which may then transform into abuse within their own interpersonal relationships. It was also stated that it is important to ensure young perpetrators are worked with holistically whilst trying to ensure they are not criminalised, but also that as a result of that they are not colluded with either. There is also a concern that the transition at 18 from YOT to probation is an area with a lack of support. Reporting of teenage abuse is even lower than adult domestic abuse because young people are aware that the police often have to release the perpetrator who will probably return home. Some of the mothers in stage 2 of the primary research said that they are also concerned that their submissive behaviour was rubbing off on their children, which could set them up to be victims themselves at a later stage. Jennifer Bevis-Lacey from POTATO says that the system is geared towards whole ‘dysfunctional families’ – not ‘dysfunctional children with functioning parents’. Adoptive parents can experience DA by their adoptive teens and there is very little support for this dynamic despite domestic abuse being the main reason young people enter the care system (Selwyn et al, 2014). Alison Powney from Daybreak says that when the perpetrator leaves or the young person is removed the young person may try and fill his or her shoes to try and get back that state of normalcy. She felt we should be educating young people so they know the rights and wrongs of family dynamics. Lynne Thompsel of Miriam House says that this normalisation process is one of the most challenging parts of change. At the focus group it was felt more programmes to work with perpetrators are needed with the acknowledgement that they are probably also victims. It was stated that we deal with alcoholics, drug abusers, and offenders in a rehabilitative manner but this approach has not yet been normalised for perpetrators of DA. Preventative work is vital, but the funding is scarce. The family approach Marcia Calvino believes there are some gaps in family therapy and that more specialist parenting work is needed with parents whose children are perpetrating too, although parenting work must be carefully packaged as not to patronise or undermine the parent. There is a tendency to help individuals but not family units – the dynamic of which is particularly important for young people.
“I just felt like shouting ‘doesn’t anyone care about my children’ – there was something missing even though they were living it with me every day.” - Jade
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Alison Powney says that family members are often unaware of the true extent of the abuse, but family group conferences ensure that all members know what they need to know and that support dynamics can be strengthened. It gives the family a chance to do the best by the victim and the children before the situation worsens and services intervene. She says that such conferences are also a good way to break down barriers between families and services and rebuild trust in that sense. One participant, Ginny, said that this was a way for her to plan for the future – something she never dared to do before. The focus group stated that the immediate family of the young person holds responsibility even if they themselves are victims or perpetrators, but that agencies need to be there to support and help realise this responsibility and what to do with it. One of the biggest challenges participants in the focus group felt was the issue of CAFCASS, and contact orders whilst victims are going through the court process. In some cases forced contact could be dangerous for the child and the abused parent and they say it is often used as an instrument for abuse and coercive control to continue, which isn’t taken into consideration by the court authorities. This can often lead to relapse, and any good work being undone. As discussed in the literature review, participants felt it was imperative to ensure that not only one member of the family is being supported. One participant, Jade, said that she felt she had very well rounded support but she was constantly frustrated that her daughters were not provided for in this sense. Her children were under a great amount of strain and she was unable to help or point them in the direction of someone who could. CAADA states that it is important to align interventions for all members of the family.
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CONCLUSIONS It is clear that there are many challenges when it comes to supporting young people who have been exposed to domestic abuse. In Hampshire there are a number of organisations working well to support young people, however there are issues around access, and there are a number of areas where the service could be stronger. At a strategic level a review of acceptable terminology used by statutory and voluntary organisations and also a review of how the multi-agency approach is actually working for those on the frontline would be beneficial. There is a need to promote cooperation between statutory and voluntary services and funding parameters should not be set in such a way as to discourage this cooperation and coordination. Funding needs to reflect the evidence which shows that short term interventions are not always effective in term of human outcomes or long term cost in relation to young people and DA. Funding should be directed towards initiatives that are known to work. It is not helpful to require those staple services to come up with exciting new names and packaging just to get funding. This can stifle true innovation and take away from the core services that are proven to be effective. There is a real need for a basic level of service county wide that is accessible to those isolated socially, and/or geographically as these are more likely to be the hidden victims of DA. Capacity is always going to be a problem in the current economic climate, but resources to provide relevant training to provide interim support such as targeted youth counselling is essential in addition to building pathways. More robust training for all concerned will ensure that professionals know how to identify DA, and ask the right questions at the right time to encourage disclosure. A county wide social media strategy toolkit for use by frontline and statutory DA organisations could help raise awareness, and help organisations deal with ‘the dark web’ to be able to support young people. There should be greater awareness by young people about the rights and wrongs of relationships and what constitutes domestic abuse. We must start to talk to them through their media and in their language to offer advice, information, and to signpost to more robust support. It may be helpful to review PSHE sessions, so they are more relevant to the modern life of a young person today. DA, CSE, youth rights, LGBT and BME equality are topics that must be learnt about in secondary school and therefore could be included in inspection criteria and be delivered against a universal standard. The youth service has changed considerably in recent years. Services that can provide an array of information for young people to access in one place are beneficial. These services also provide respite for young people and give them a safe place to get away from it all. It would be helpful to conduct a review of housing provision for young people who have been exposed to DA. Hostels are not always suitable places for the most vulnerable of our young people and many refuges only take women with children. Children and young people that enter a refuge with an abused parent need to be catered for individually though a young person’s worker, as the upheaval of it all can cause more problems in the long term. YPVAs (as advocated by the CAADA Young Person Programme) are a good example of a way to ensure that the practical needs of young people exposed to DA are met. This however needs to be combined with suitable emotional support and education as previously discussed, and pattern changing style interventions that help them not to fall into the cycle of DA. 50 | P a g e
Many felt there needs to be a better understanding of the needs of young people who perpetrate DA, and an understanding that more often than not that young person would have been a victim not so long ago, according to research and professional opinion. These are often the male victims who did not have access to support at the time of being a victim, because services are geared towards female victims. LGBT and BME young people do not have access to specialist support, and the organisations that are providing support for young people do not have the understanding or knowledge to work with these marginalised young people. Specialist YPVAs could work with these young people, to ensure they are not further marginalised and that general services are also equipped to deal with their needs. Finally, many views were expressed to say that it is essential the whole family is taken into consideration when working with the young person to help recovery. Parent victims and perpetrators are often dealt with in isolation. The family unit is likely to still exist in some shape or form even once the perpetrator is no longer there, and so it is crucial to ensure the remaining parent/s and young person/s work to reconstruct a healthy relationship too. It is crucial when working with young people through such sensitive issues, and when considering how best to support them, that professionals do not create ‘a victim blueprint’ and try to pigeon hole that young person into what we believe victimhood should look like or how it should be remedied. This is why interventions must be individualised, and tailored to each young person in kind, starting with a basic level of needs being met.
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RECOMMENDATIONS Strategic
Frontline
1) Focus on the four geographical areas highlighted on page 8 in terms of DA provision: East Hants, Eastleigh, Hart and Rushmoor, and Test Valley
1) Healthy relationships to be taught as part of PSHE in every school by an external body with the capacity to deal with disclosures or signpost accordingly
2) Ensure DA forums are active in each area, with a lead DA professional in each local authority
2) A mobile drop in service to reach rural areas
3) More standardised and relevant training for police, prosecutors, teachers, and social workers and anyone else that comes into contact with potentially vulnerable young people 4) Have one comprehensive directory, which is accessible and useable by professionals to share information. This could be part of the Early Help Hub one already underway 5) Start to consider how coercive control becoming law will affect practice in the police and all statutory organisations and how support for victims of the new crime will be orchestrated 6) Encourage parallel working between CYP, adult victims, and perpetrators – a holistic approach that works with the whole family in addition to individualised support
3) Increase the number of young person’s IDVAs (YPVAs) and with a different name to encourage engagement alongside better liaison between LSCBs and IDVAs 4) Development of a county wide social media strategy toolkit for use by frontline and statutory DA organisations 5) Better utilisation and awareness of national tools such as the hide out 6) Create one website for information for victims and young people about support services in Hampshire with links from school websites and adult DA websites 7) Use the whole family approach to ensure holistic working such as family group conferences
7) Ensure funding is meeting the needs of DA victims as this in turn will see cost benefits in the long run. Refrain from trying to quantify effects that cannot be quantified but are evident
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AREAS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7)
Complex abuse and complex child abuse Teenage abuse Post separation abuse and abuse through contact with children Male abuse Unregistered, home educated young people and links with abuse LGBT abuse The links between cyber bullying and abuse and harm in Hampshire
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REFERENCES 4LSCB, 2007. Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, Southampton; Safeguarding Children Procedures. Winchester. Available from: www.4lscb.org.uk, [Accessed on: 25th June 2014]. Avon and Somerset PCC. 2014. Listening to the victims voices: An initial assessment of the needs of victims of crime in Avon and Somerset. Avon and Somerset. Beckette, H. and Warrington, C, 2014. Suffering in silence: Children and unreported crime. Bedfordshire: University of Bedfordshire and Victim Support. Buckley, H. et al., 2007. Listen to Me! Children’s Experiences of Domestic Violence. Child Abuse Review, 16, pp.296-310. CAADA, 2012a. Insights into Domestic Abuse 1; A Place of Greater Safety. Bristol, CAADA. CAADA, 2012b. Key statistics on the prevalence of domestic abuse. Bristol, CAADA. CAADA, 2013. Insights into Domestic Abuse; Children’s Insights Dataset 2011-2013 (Appendix to ‘In plain sight’ research and policy reports). Bristol: CAADA. CAADA, 2014a., Insights into Domestic Abuse 2; In Plain Sight – Effective help for children exposed to domestic abuse. Bristol: CAADA. CAADA, 2014b. Young People and Interpersonal Violence: first findings from the Young People’s Programme. Bristol: CAADA. Chaplin, R. Flatley, J. and Smith, K., (eds), 2011. Crime in England and Wales 2010/11; Findings from the British Crime Survey and police recorded crime (2nd Edition). Home Office: London. Complex Child Abuse Investigations: Inter-Agency Issues Guidance. Available from: http://www.workingtogetheronline.co.uk/documents/Complex_abu.pdf, [Accessed 01/08/2014]. Coy, M. Kelly, L. and Foord, J. 2009., Map of Gaps 2; The postcode lottery of Violence Against Women support services in Britain. London: EVAW. Cooper, Y. 2014., We must educate our sons to save our daughters. The Independent Online: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/we-must-educate-our-sons-to-save-our-daughters9588177.html, [Accessed 01/08/2014]. CPS, 2013., Violence against Women and Girls Crime Report 2012-2013. London: CPS Department of Health, 2000. No Secrets. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nosecrets-guidance-on-protecting-vulnerable-adults-in-care. [Accessed 10th Nov 2014]. Devaney, J. 2008. Chronic child abuse and domestic violence: children and families with long-term and complex needs. Child and Family Social Work. 13, pp.443-453. DCSF, HM Government, 2010. Working Together to Safeguard Children: A guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. London: HM Government. Edleson et al., 2007. Assessing child exposure to adult domestic violence. Science Direct (29) pp.961-971. Elsevier: Minnesota. 55 | P a g e
Evans, S. E. et al., 2008. Exposure to domestic violence: A meta-analysis of child and adolescent outcomes. Aggression and Violent Behaviour, (13), pp.131-140. Fox, C, L. and Butler, I., 2007, ‘If you don't want to tell anyone else you can tell her’: young people's views on school counselling, British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 35(1), pp.97-114. Fox, C, L et al., 2014. Young teenagers' experiences of domestic abuse, Journal of Youth Studies, 17:4, pp.510-526. Gardner, R., 2008. Developing an effective response to neglect and emotional harm to children. The National Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Norwich: University of East Anglia. Girlguiding, 2014., Girls’ Attitude Survey 2014. London: Girlguiding. Hampshire Safeguarding Children Board and Children’s Trust Thresholds Chart Hester, M., 2011. The Three Planet Model: Towards an Understanding of Contradictions in Approaches to Women and Children’s Safety in Contexts of Domestic Violence. British Journal of Social Work, (41), pp.837-853. Hester, M., 2009. The Planet Metaphor: a challenge for professional practice, research & policy makers. Bristol: University of Bristol. Holt, S, et al., 2008. The impact of exposure to domestic violence on children and young people: A review of the literature. Child Abuse and Neglect, (32), pp.797-810. Home Office, 2013, Information for local areas on the change to the definition of domestic violence and abuse. London: HMG. Home Office, 2014, Strengthening the law on Domestic Abuse; A Consultation. London: Home Office. House of Commons Health Committee, 2014., Children's and adolescents' mental health and CAMHS; Report, together with formal minutes relating to the report. London: House of Commons. HMIC, 2014a. Hampshire Constabulary’s approach to tackling domestic abuse. Hampshire: HMIC, (ISBN: 978-1-78246-352-8). HMIC, 2014b. Everyone’s business: improving the police response to domestic abuse. London: HMIC. Just Rights, 2014. Make our rights a reality: a manifesto created by hundreds of young people across England. Just Rights and Youth Access: London. Kelly, L. Sharp. N. and Klein, R. 2014. Finding the Costs of Freedom; How Women and Children Rebuild their Lives After Domestic Violence. CWASU and Solace Women’s Aid. Kiser, L. J et al. 2014. Effects of the child–perpetrator relationship on mental health outcomes of child abuse: It’s (not) all relative. Child Abuse & Neglec,. 38(6), pp.1083-1093. Laville, S., 2014. Domestic Violence Refuge Provision at Crisis Point Warns Charities. The Guardian [online]. Available from http://theguardian.com/society/2014/aug/03/domestic-violence-refuge-crisis-womenclosure-safe-houses [Accessed 10th Aug 2014]. LGA, 2014. Children’s Mental Health Services ‘in need of reform’. London: Local Government Association. Available from: http://www.local.gov.uk/media-releases/-/journal_content/56/10180/6437032/NEWS, [Accessed 10th Oct 2014] 56 | P a g e
Liverpool Mental Health Consortium, 2014., What Women Want Group/Domestic Abuse and Mental Health Task and Finish Group. Available from: http://www.liverpoolmentalhealth.org/_wp/wpcontent/uploads/2014/03/Domestic-Abuse-Mental-Health-LMHC-20141.pdf, [Accessed on 15th Sept 2014]. Menard, S et al., 2014. Types of adolescent exposure to violence as predictors of adult intimate partner violence. Child Abuse and Neglect, (38), pp.627-639. NSPCC, 2006. Childline Casenotes; Physical Abuse. London: NSPCC. NSPCC, 2014a. CORE-INFO: Neglect or Emotional Abuse in Children aged 5-14. NSPCC: London. NSPCC, 2014b. Emotional neglect and abuse referrals increase by nearly 50%. Available from: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/news-and-views/media-centre/press-releases/2014/emotional-abuse-neglectincrease/helpline-calls-emotional-abuse-increase_wdn102869.html, [Accessed on 19th Sept 2014]. Ofsted. 2013., Social Care 2012-2013. OFSTED: Manchester. Radford, L et al. 2011. Meeting the needs of children living with domestic violence in London. London: NSPCC. Radford, L. et al. 2014. Child Abuse and Neglect in the UK Today. London: NSPCC. Sabates, R. and Dex, S.’ 2012. Multiple risk factors in young children’s development. London: Centre for Longitudinal Studies. Selwyn, J. et al ., 2014. Beyond the Adoption Order: challenges, interventions and adoption disruption. Bristol: University of Bristol. Solace Women’s Aid, and CWASU., 2014. Finding the Costs of Freedom; How women and children rebuild their lives after domestic violence. Available from: http://solacewomensaid.org/wpcontent/uploads/2014/05/Finding-the-Costs-of-Freedom-Executive-Summary.pdf, [Accessed on 8th Sept 2014]. Tapley, J. et al., 2014a. A Strategic Assessment of Support Services for Victims of Crime in the South East. Portsmouth: University of Portsmouth. Tapley, J. et al., 2014b. An Audit of Support Services for Victims of Crime in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight (Supplement Four). Portsmouth: University of Portsmouth. Tickle, L. 2014. How the UK’s legal system is failing victims of domestic violence. The Guardian Online. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/29/how-uk-legal-system-failingdomestic-violence-victims, [Accessed on 29th Nov 2014]. UNICEF, 2006. Behind Closed Doors; The Impact of Domestic Violence on Children. UNICEF Walby, S. 2009. The Cost of Domestic Violence. Lancaster: UNESCO and Lancaster University. Wolpert, M. 2014., Thrive: The AFC-Tavistock Model for CAMHS. London: CAMHS.
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APPENDICES Appendix 1 – Professional Questionnaire
SECTION 1 – INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR ORGANISATION 1.
Does your organisation work with: (please put a cross next to those that apply) Young people Young people who have experienced domestic abuse in the past Adults who are currently experiencing domestic abuse Adults who are thought to be at risk of domestic abuse
Young people who are currently experiencing domestic abuse Young people who are thought to be at risk of domestic abuse Adults who have experienced domestic abuse in the past Other (please state)
2.
In your organisation, how sustainable are the projects aimed at service users who have experienced or are experiencing domestic abuse? (Is it a one off with specific funding or a long term initiative with consistent funding, for example.)
3.
Do you feel your organisation has adequate support from local authorities for the provisions aimed at service users who have experienced or are experiencing domestic abuse?
4.
What kind of projects/activities do you feel are most beneficial for your service users and why?
5.
What are the most common ‘symptoms’ of domestic abuse that you encounter with your service users?
6.
Do you have separate services for the different elements of domestic abuse? (Physical, emotional, sexual, financial, neglect) and if so how is this operationalised?
7.
Do you think given the opportunity your service/project could expand/diversify to further meet the needs of young people who have experienced/are experiencing domestic abuse?
8.
Does your organisation seek out ‘hidden victims’ and if so how?
9.
How do service users access the service?
SECTION 2 – YOUR PROFESSIONAL OPINION 1.
If given the opportunity, what areas of your service would you expand and why?
2.
What other service provisions for the groups stated in question 1 are you aware of (please list):
a)
In your local area (county level)
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b) Nationally 3.
When speaking with your service users, where do you think the gaps are in the support they are receiving from your organisation or elsewhere? (Please put a cross next to those you believe to apply.) Housing Respite Youth Projects
Counselling/Health Education Probation/Justice
Council Services
Other (please state):
4.
What actions would you like to see put into place to better support young people who
a)
Have experienced domestic abuse
b) Are currently experiencing domestic abuse 5.
Do you believe your services are accessible enough? If not, why not?
6.
Do you believe that your organisation consults with the service users enough when considering the development of the organisation/services/projects? If so, please share how this is carried out. If not please state what you believe could be done better.
SECTION 3 – MOVING FORTH As stated at the beginning, this questionnaire is the first step in a research project which aims to assess provision and access to it, and to ascertain how we can do better for these young people moving forward with their lives. Your input is fundamental to make the project a success and therefore how we move forth is crucial. Would you be happy for the researcher to contact you to arrange a meeting to further discuss your thoughts on this issue?
Yes
No
Unsure/Would require more information
Would you be happy to attend a focus group of professionals also working in the area?
Yes
No
Unsure/Would require more information
If your organisation runs projects or sessions with the groups listed in question 1 directly: a)
Would you be happy for our researcher to attend one of these sessions to observe the good work you do? Yes
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Unsure/Would require more information
b) Do you think your service users would be interested in attending a focus group with our researcher to share their experiences as a group?
Yes
c)
No
Unsure/Would require more information
Do you think your service users would be interested in taking part in a 1-2-1 interview with our researcher to share their experiences individually?
Yes
No
Unsure/Would require more information
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Appendix 2 – Adult One to One Questions 1.
How old were you when you first experienced DA?
2.
To whom did you first talk about the DA?
3.
Which agencies or organisations did you disclose to if any?
4.
How long did it take you to talk to someone about the DA?
5.
Did you know what DA was when you first started to experience it?
6.
How supported did you feel by the agencies you spoke to?
7.
Were there any particular things you felt helped you in the recovery phase?
8.
Were there any organisations you felt should have supported you better?
9.
Looking back at that time, what other support do you think would have helped you move forth?
10. Do you think young people need to be taught about healthy relationships from an early age? 11. What other preventative measures do you as a survivor think may be useful for young people today? 12. Is there anything else you would like to add or discuss?
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Appendix 3 – Young People One to One Questions 1.
How old were you when you first experienced DA?
2.
Who did you talk to about it?
3.
Which agencies or organisations did you feel able to talk to if any?
4.
How long did it take you to talk to someone about the DA?
5.
Did you know what DA was when you first started to experience it?
6.
How supported did you feel by the agencies you spoke to?
7.
Are there any particular things you feel are helping you in the recovery phase?
8.
Were there any organisations you felt should have supported you better?
9.
Looking back, what other support do you think would have helped you move forth?
10. Do you think young people need to be taught about healthy relationships and what is normal from an early age? 11. What other things do you believe may have prevented your experience of DA? 12. Is there anything else you would like to add or discuss?
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Appendix 4 – Focus group notes
FOCUS GROUP 1 ATTENDEES Ben Snuggs
Superintendent Hampshire Police
Charlotte Tomlinson
YOT Parenting Support Officer
Gillian Finch
Cis'Ters
Justine Davies
Children's Society
Liessa Mallinson
Victim Support
Marcia Calvino
YCP and Play therapy
Melissa Derricot
Children's Society
Penny Valentine
Aurora New Dawn (ISAC)
QUESTION 1
1.
Discuss what interventions are most successful to help 11-19 year olds post domestic abuse
There was a large discussion surrounding the fact that there is no such thing as ‘post’ and that the use of this word should be defined. Any intervention should consider ‘during’ and ‘post’. It was the general opinion that ‘post’ could refer to ‘post crisis’ i.e. when the perpetrator is no longer habiting with the victim however it was also pointed out that abuse more often than not continues past this point especially where there are children involved. Some interventions (in no particular order) that were considered by the group to have a positive effect:
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Human Givens Therapy Guided Imagery Play therapy for under 12’s Therapeutic interventions Role Modelling
(through a trusted adult from any service)
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Healthy Relationships in schools
(but then someone to deal with disclosures after)
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One stop shop drop in service Whole Family Work (FGC or Family Therapy) Young People’s IDVAs but with a better name Young Persons IDVAs (under a new name)
It was key for all participants that any intervention is long term, or if a short intervention that the required work after is completed so as not to leave victims vulnerable. First and foremost provision in the ‘post’ setting is about fulfilling emotional needs of the victim. Each victim has different needs, and will require interventions at different stages and so the need for flexibility is key; interventions must not be static.
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Interventions must also be consistent; i.e. if the abused parent is put in a refuge it shouldn’t be assumed the child (or the parent for that matter) is then ‘saved’, other interventions must be run alongside those that make victims physically safe. There was also much discussion across the session about how any trauma no matter how seemingly ‘small’ or unrelated, can bring back behaviours and needs for the young person to have support related to their earlier abuse. The participants agreed that the solution to this would be to ensure any support provision is resilient enough to allow past victims to re-access at the point of need without waiting and without stigma. Participants said that sometimes the scale of the abuse gets lost in a single crime – this is usually any physical abuse is dealt with but emotional, financial, and sexual continues as it is harder to prove. A key theme that was repeated across the session was the need for a young person to have trust in a single person whether that be a family member, a social worker, a health professional, a teacher, a DA worker, or a youth worker. Anyone that is in regular contact with that child. It was acknowledged that a young person who has experienced DA is unlikely to trust an adult easily and so this relationship could be considered the first successful intervention. This one person should listen, show understanding, withhold judgement, and believe in the young person. For this one person theory to work participants agreed there needs to be a standard level of training across all professionals that come into contact with young people not just ‘vulnerable’ young people and then more general awareness raising for the general public to be aware of the signs and have the capacity to support their own network. Professionals must also feel supported by senior management and be given the leeway to be flexible in their working with young people even if slightly outside the central job remit or timescales. For this to be effective there needs to be a central set of guidelines and best practice when it comes to training to help weed out bad practice. In raising awareness the campaigns that happen around Christmas need not focus on the woman victim, and the abuse just between the husband and wife, but also the experience of the child who as a witness is subject to emotional abuse, or often experiences direct abuse also. It needs to made clear that anyone can experience DA and it is archaic to think it is husband towards wife only. Participants agreed there is a need to work with schools to open up this subject and to ensure that staff are well equipped to deal with disclosures. It was said that it would be best for a specialist outside agency to delivery workshops on healthy relationships, however there would need to be someone in the school with the skills to deal with disclosures afterwards without just blindly signposting. There must be warm referrals not cold passing of the buck. There was a discussion about how splintered society has become and that the lack of sense of community now means that people are less likely to talk to people to disclose that they are facing problems. It was felt by participants that a kind of one stop shop drop in service such as Catch22 or No Limits in Southampton would be beneficial, where a young person can go to speak with someone about anything from job searching to budgeting, or healthy relationships, and sexual health. These services are the places where young people will often find that one person whom they can trust, the kind of place disclosures are most likely. These services must be accessible to all with an open door policy. Someone must be able to walk in there without being stigmatised or labelled as a problem child. This then provides that community feel for what may be a very isolated young person and has the flexibility to allow the young person to disclose when they are ready. 63 | P a g e
The group felt there is a need to move away from this ‘fixed you’ attitude and accept that DA means a person of whatever age may need a little extra support for some time and that there is no single formula to right the wrongs that have been done to that person. Shorter term interventions are often in place because of the need for ‘results’. Results driven provision is unrealistic as it is well known that DA provision must be long term and true results may not manifest themselves in quantifiable ways for some time, which is something funders need to realise. Participants agreed that although young people need specialist interventions as they are usually lost to the system and as the abused parent is ‘dealt with’ it is assumed the young person is also fine, there is also a need for a whole family approach such as Family Group Conferencing or Family Therapy. Here it is important that the structure is with the young person and adult victim in mind as it may not always be appropriate for the perpetrator to attend, but it may be beneficial to ensure any extended family is involved to build up that support network both for the young person and the adult victim. There was also a discussion around the difficulties of semantics; domestic abuse or domestic violence, service users or members, victims or survivors, and also IDVAs. It was felt that the IDVA label made the service unapproachable for young people and that now the definition of DA has shifted to include 16 and 17 year olds and is moving towards including all aspects of abuse not just the violent/physical , it is time to soften the image of such workers without diluting what they do. It was also stated that more young person’s IDVAs are needed.
FOCUS GROUP 2 ATTENDEES Alison Gaudreau
HomeGroup/Stoneham Eastleigh Refuge
Dave Harvey
EIS
Debbie Willis
Hampton Trust
Frankie Eyre
Southampton Rape Crisis
Jenni Bevis Lacey
POTATO
Kim Morgan
SDAS
Lynne Thompsell
Chapter 1 (Miriam House)
QUESTION 1
2. Discuss what interventions are most successful to help 11-19 year olds post domestic abuse There was a large discussion surrounding the fact that interventions should be broken down by presented behaviours and consideration taken as to what stage the young person is at in their trauma. Suggested breakdowns included; younger victims (under 11) for art/play type therapies and group work, those that are already aware of healthy relationship issues, those that are manifesting difficult behaviours, and those that need general information. There was emphasis on the importance of individuality when providing interventions and that introverted victims should not be placed with extroverted as this may cause the victim to withdraw. All participants agreed that the point of assessment is a critical time and that this needs to be done correctly. Some interventions that were considered by the group to have a positive effect:
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Group work One to one sessions for teens and older 64 | P a g e
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Play therapy for under 12’s Therapeutic interventions Role Modelling
(through a trusted adult from any service)
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Healthy Relationships in schools as a regular part of the curriculum (yrs 7, 9, 11) (but then someone to deal with disclosures after)
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Whole Family Work (FGC or Family Therapy) Young People’s IDVAs but with a better name Peer to peer mentoring
There was also extensive discussion about how whole family interventions are needed. The issue of child to parent abuse was also raised and how adoptive parents are often left out of the support loop after the child is placed especially if the child is from a different local authority area. The group felt that supporting parents is likely to have a positive effect on the young people. It was said it is a lonely place for parents struggling with their child’s behaviours when support is so hard to access, which in turn can present its own problems. Some participants felt that in terms of statutory agencies, only the police were responsive, when in fact this is not necessarily the most appropriate form of intervention for the age groups concerned. It was also discussed that if the family is put in the white, middle class bracket then it is assumed things are fine, whereas it is known to frontline services that such families in rural settings are often host to many hidden victims. When something goes horribly wrong, however, it was felt that organisations were happy to point the finger. A constant theme throughout the day was the struggles with access due to high thresholds and complex criteria that organisations have to use before considering those in need for intervention. It was acknowledged that this is due to capacity problems, however it has meant that those who are classified either rightly or wrongly as standard to medium risk are left vulnerable and to progress to high risk which seems morally wrong. Although all participants agreed this would be a difficult problem to resolve. In terms of social services this tone was echoed, especially when it came to young people in refuges and in the care system. Things only get noticed once they reach a potentially fatal level. The amount of training social workers receive on the issue during their degrees was also raised as often this could be one lesson or less when an extremely high percentage of their future caseloads will be DA related or at least have a DA element to them. It was also noted that social services only seem concerned with the youngest at risk and the older the young person gets the less likely they are to receive help. A number of participants felt that schools were too quick to act when it came to excluding students that exhibited difficult behaviours. It was felt that the reasons for the behaviours were never looked into and schools often write young people off as troublesome without considering why they act the way they do. Schools fail to see that young people are part of a whole world outside of school. It was worrying that a number of participants said they had come across teachers and staff in schools who have told them ‘we do not have that here’ in relation to DA which shows there is a desperate need for training on such issues to be integrated into PSHE to ensure that all teachers are equipped to deal with disclosures or presented behaviours. They also need to have the knowledge to effectively signpost. There was a lengthy discussion about PSHE issues and how healthy relationships should be an integral part of it, and that it shouldn’t be a day or a few days a year but a regular part of timetabling. Although schools 65 | P a g e
cite timetabling issues, the young people who need this information most are not usually on full timetables anyway and so should be included as part of a reduced package. It was agreed that national initiatives such as White Ribbon Day are a good platform for raising general awareness and as a starting point for information to trickle down. Although one off items such as assemblies must be carefully considered as such intense sessions can be re-traumatising for some children and it is imperative that the follow up support is available before opening up the issue to potentially vulnerable young people. A protocol is needed. It was acknowledged too that whilst getting an outside specialist agency in to deliver what is needed this is a red flag to schools as it says to the community that that school has a problem. Although this is a stigma in society that needs tackling anyway. There was a follow up discussion after the long talk regarding the role of schools about how some of the most vulnerable young people are actually outside of the education system and although this is one window we must work to ensure the more hidden victims are accessing support. This could include youth clubs, church groups, and other less specialist localised groups that young people access.
QUESTION 2 3.
Discuss what support already exists for this ‘recovery’ phase for these young people in Hampshire, and what is needed.
Participants started by discussing how social services are still viewed as the main source of support although in actuality this is often not the case. There was also much discussion around the fact that agencies are not able to provide the multi-agency approach that is often discussed higher up the chain of command due to the problems of statutory organisations engaging as well as concerns surrounding competition between frontline providers for funding. Participants were aware of a limited number of young person specific DA support. The main themes of the discussion were how support is often too short term and access is limited especially in rural areas due to the post code lottery and limited capacity. Some of the organisations mentioned (in no particular order) were:
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Eastleigh Youth Counselling Play therapy Youth Crime Prevention SDAS Southampton Rape Crisis Adoption UK
IDVAs (need to change in line with new definition for 16yr olds) POTATO Refuges Aurora New Dawn Hampton Trust Women’s Aid Childline The Hideout 66 | P a g e
Social media was briefly mentioned as a useful instrument for reaching out to young people, and to help all members of society including professionals to be aware of the different services out there. Another point raised was how unquantifiable the positive effects of work in this area are especially in terms of emotional well being and resilience. This impact measurement is a consistent hurdle for services that have proven to be effective across some time, just not in the ways required by funders, which means valuable services get lost and as a result so do the people that access them. People only measure what is easy to measure, not want needs measuring. It was mentioned that what may be worth looking into is the ‘keys to resilience’ used by Barnardo’s to try and create a more accurate measuring system. The group felt what is needed is more programmes that deal with perpetrators acknowledging that they are probably also victims. It was stated that we deal with alcoholics, drug abusers and offenders in a rehabilitative manner but this approach has not yet been normalised for perpetrators of DA. These people are of course the root of the problem and are a key part of the preventative work that is so often talked about as being a core part of strategy but often not ‘sexy’ enough to fund. The group also re-addressed the issue of the needs of standard to medium risk victims, which is also a preventative issue and so should also be high on the agenda. Access in general is an issue that needs addressing with many victims stating in hindsight that they wish they had known about services earlier. Interestingly there was also some participants who said that despite DA being a large part of their remit, they were confused by the levels of organisations and groups such as MASH, MARAC, Early Help Hubs, etc. and who is responsible for what. There seems to be a large number of groups, meetings, and hubs all for the same things but that rarely consult with each other or fully understand the point of each other. Many around the table said awareness of MARAC needs to be improved with professionals and victims. The group also spoke about the need for dedicated young person’s IDVAs/ISVAs and for DA staff all to be trained in dealing with young people and how to consider their needs even when working with other family members. There was a feeling that when the adult victim is dealt with some statutory services take this to mean the needs of the young person have also been met when this is rarely the case. Another gap identified with the group was that young person to young person abuse is often not classed as domestic abuse even though our young people are entering relationships younger. There is still also a huge amount of stigma around child to parent abuse which is particularly prominent within adoptive family units. The police were cited as one body who particularly struggle to deal with these examples as instances of DA. The final large discussion point of this section was funding and that great projects tend to lose funding if they fail to re-package or prove effect in the required way. The competitive element of funding lends itself to providers not sharing information or best practice because it becomes a matter of survival. Funder’s attitudes are driven by short term goals when DA provision is not a short term game. Long term, consistency is key for victims, which isn’t possible in this kind of market. The way funding streams are distributed was also questioned and how bids from organisations are not covered by copyright. What is needed:
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Better funding and consistency Provisions for standard/medium risk victims Better access across the board Young Person IDVA/ISVA services Utilisation of social media A universal standard of training for all 67 | P a g e
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A more networked approach Services for less conventional forms of DA (young person to young person) Better participation from statutory orgs especially health/CAMHS More single gender provisions
QUESTION 3 1. Discuss whose responsibility it is to support young people post abuse, and whose responsibility it should be to support these young people? Professionals in the third sector want to embrace the multi-agency approach but feel that statutory agencies are non cooperative due to capacity issues – they are overstretched. The group were in agreement that voluntary services are left to do the jobs that statutory organisations do not have the capacity to take on – when victims are on waiting lists for health professionals voluntary workers fill the void; when education on such issues isn’t available, voluntary workers provide it- when the police are unable to provide security, voluntary workers do, where safety is at risk, voluntary workers act etc. The group felt that it is everybody’s responsibility to protect these children but Jo Public are still scared to report when they hear DA and are less likely to report that than general noise nuisance. This is because DA is still very much considered a private issue when it should now be a public matter of concern. The group felt that this could be changed by ensuring a minimum level of awareness education in schools as discussed in part 1 and helping young people to understand what is normal and healthy from an early age. There was also a brief discussion on how bullying and DA link as bullying is something once accepted in schools but now completely unacceptable. One interesting point raised was that anyone needs to know what DA is to be able to recognise it before being able to take responsibility and this again starts with education. The group also stated that the immediate family of the young person holds responsibility even if they themselves are victims or perpetrators but that agencies need to be there to support and help realise this responsibility and what to do with it. Some participants felt those at council level should have a better understanding of issues and services than what is currently portrayed, as they do not have the pressures of finding funding etc like those in the voluntary sector. Saying this, it was clear from participants that victims are much more likely to work with third sector organisations as there is greater trust there than with statutory organisations.
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