Nicole Jacobs is calling for the police to overhaul its current guidance for officers that says children are a victim “when they are directly targeted,” or “if they are accidentally assaulted in an incident involving others”.
However, this does not take into account when children witness domestic abuse, which is contrary to current law, she warns.
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Special Report: Domestic Abuse
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Analysis: Improving agencies’ response to tackling serious youth violence
According to the 2021 Domestic Abuse Act, children should be treated as victims in domestic abuse cases “whether they have seen, heard, or experienced the effects of domestic abuse”, said Jacobs in her report into the criminal justice response to domestic abuse.
“Guidance and training available to police officers on all aspects of domestic abuse must be robust, accurate and informed by specialist expertise, she said.
“Policing must go further in their recognition and response to children as victims in their own right, and this must be led by clear guidance from government on what this means in practice.”
She is also concerned around gaps in support to rehabilitate perpetrators of abuse, including when attacks are carried out by children and young people.
“Funding is precarious and insufficient, and commissioning practice is variable, including common use of short-term contracts,” she said
Jacobs notes that while the previous Conservative government committed £75mn to tackling perpetrators “it is now necessary to consolidate learning from this investment and create national consistency of core provision in order to appropriately respond to perpetrators”.
Her report found that in the year to June 2024 more than 159,000 cases involving children were discussed at domestic abuse multi-agency risk assessment conferences.
Jacobs’ report also raises concerns around a lack of convictions against perpetrators, with only 6% of cases dealt with by police resulting in a convictions.
She warns that “only a fifth of victims have the confidence to report in the first place”.
Other recommendations she makes are to improve multi-agency working and ensure domestic abuse response and support services are better resourced. Data collection also needs to improve.
Ellie Butt, head of policy and public affairs at domestic abuse survivors’ charity Refuge, said that Jacobs’ report “reveals the horrific extent to which survivors of domestic abuse are being systematically let down by almost every aspect of the criminal justice system”.
She added that it is “essential” that the government’s next spending review “recognises the need for dedicated funding to ensure that survivors have access to the life-saving support they deserve”.
