Increased support for domestic abuse victims as reports surge

Councils have been forced to step up support for victims of domestic violence and their children who may witness abuse. Crisis measures include funding emergency refuges and helping neighbours, relatives and key workers to spot the signs of abuse.

Reports suggest some family courts have seen a fivefold increase in care proceedings cases in recent weeks amid fears fewer cases of neglect and abuse of children will be reported due to school closures.

Women’s Aid, the charity supporting female abuse victims, has seen a 41 per cent increase in calls to its helpline since Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed lockdown measures to slow the spread of coronavirus on 23 March. 

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Refuge, the UK’s largest domestic abuse charity, reported a 700 per cent increase in people visiting its website for advice and support in a single day on 6 April and a 120 per cent rise in calls to its helpline on the same day.

Meanwhile, the NSPCC’s Childline counsellors delivered 900 coronavirus-related sessions to children worried about the impact of the pandemic in the first week of lockdown alone.

Andrew Fellowes, public affairs manager at the NSPCC, said: "During this national health crisis children will continue to be at risk of abuse and neglect, both offline and online. Not all children at risk of harm will continue going to school, making it more difficult to spot the signs of abuse.

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"National government must support local authorities, services and schools to develop clear plans setting out how they will work together while making sure all professionals working with children are well equipped to keep children safe and swiftly take appropriate action when required.”

In response to the crisis, the government announced £2m in investment to support victims of domestic violence during the crisis and stated in official guidance that anyone suffering would be able to leave their homes.

Victims commissioner for England and Wales Dame Vera Baird warned the coronavirus pandemic could lead to a “substantial rise in the number of children and young people who experience domestic abuse”.

Speaking to the Home Affairs Committee last week, Baird also urged ministers to speak to shop workers to ask them to look out for signs of abuse.

She also warned that refuges for women and children were “largely” full and called on the government to work with hotel chains to provide emergency accommodation.

Meanwhile, NHS Digital has announced that the child protection information sharing (CP-IS) tool used by the NHS and local authorities to protect vulnerable children will be extended to include school nurses and health visitors. 

CP-IS is a system that alerts NHS staff when children who are subject to a child protection plan, looked-after children or pregnant women who have an unborn child protection plan, present at an unscheduled care setting, such as an A&E or walk-in centre.

It also alerts the child’s social worker when such a visit occurs.

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Bedfordshire police and crime commissioner Kathryn Holloway has ringfenced £60,000 to provide emergency accommodation for those families fleeing domestic violence after reports of abuse increased by 30 per cent in China’s Wuhan province during its lockdown.

Elsewhere, Norfolk County Council has launched a new campaign encouraging adults including key workers, relatives and neighbours to report signs of abuse spotted in children during the lockdown amid fears these will be missed as schools are closed.

The See Something, Hear Something, Say Something campaign, backed by the Norfolk Safeguarding Children Partnership, was launched after referrals and contacts into children’s services have dropped over the last two weeks since schools, colleges and early years providers closed to the majority of children.

Signs include:

• Aggressive or repeated shouting
• Hearing hitting or things being broken
• Children crying for long periods of time
• Very young children left alone or outdoors by themselves

Sara Tough, executive director of children’s services at Norfolk County Council, said: “There are families that were struggling with health problems, financial issues, domestic abuse and other challenges before the Covid-19 outbreak and they will be feeling the pressure even more intensely now.

“Schools have been doing fantastic work to stay in touch with and support their more vulnerable children whilst they are at home, but we need Norfolk to pull together at the moment to make sure our children are safe and free from the fear of violence and abuse.”