Today, Dame Nicole Jacobs, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales has presented an important report to parliament which highlights the appalling state of affairs for child survivors of domestic violence and abuse. I urge everyone to read this report as it is such a vital piece of work for us to take action on.
I am so moved to see that my research was used throughout section 6.7 ‘Domestic abuse and serious violence’. The points that were raised were:
- Section 6.7; there is a growing body of evidence that does show a co-occurrence between serious youth violence and experiences of domestic abuse… Given these connections, there are opportunities to develop responses that address different types of harm holistically, including understanding shared underlying structural factors and adverse childhood experiences.’ (Pg 119)
- The Serious Violence Prevention Duty and the discretionary nature of local definitions of ‘serious violence’ has reinforced siloed thinking; ‘Despite the inclusion of domestic abuse in the legal definition of ‘Serious Violence’, in practice, this has still not translated into a joined-up strategic response – serious youth violence and domestic abuse responses are still convened at separate partnerships and boards. Moreover, not all Violence Reduction Units deal with both domestic abuse and serious violence – where Violence Reduction Units do cover both types of harm, it appears that this is done at separate forums. There is a lack of collaboration between serious violence and domestic abuse professionals, limiting coordination and common understanding as to best practice.’ (pg 120)
- There is a whole section on ‘masculinity, vulnerability and violence’ (section 6.7.2) which homes in on my research findings. ‘Looking specifically at boys who have experienced domestic abuse as a child or young person, there is a wealth of research that shows that early experience of domestic abuse can impact on boys’ sense of masculine identity. Dr Jade Levell’s research has found that boys can be overwhelmed by the “pressure to protect, provide, and be strong, against the experience of being victimised and subordinated through abuse.” This experience can create complex conflicts for some boys, where vulnerability and violence coexist. Of course, this is not the case for all young boys, but there is a correlation that must be acknowledged in policy and practice. For many young boys who experience domestic abuse, education settings can be the first place where they begin to use violence themselves. In order to meet their needs, it is absolutely critical to understand this as a specific masculinity-related coping strategy, especially when those young people have experienced domestic abuse. With this understanding, professionals should consider support needs first, as opposed to prioritising punitive measures… Looking to specialist support, we know there is a dearth of support services for children who have experienced domestic abuse. There is an even wider gap in support for teenage boys specifically.’ (pg. 121)
The DAC office has recommendations based on this (6.7.4 Serious Violence: connecting the dots)
• The Home Office, with the Department for Education, develops and publishes practice guidance and a shared linguistics framework to ensure that every person working with children and young people subject to domestic abuse understands their role in the response. This guidance must be underpinned by the principle that children should be referred to in a gender-specific way, in recognition of their different support needs.
• The Home Office and Safer Streets Mission Board funds the scoping, development and roll out of gender-specific and masculinity aware interventions for male child victims of domestic abuse. This must not convey future perpetration as inevitable for male children but recognise that exposure to domestic abuse can impact on boys’ identities and their own use of violence.
• The Department for Culture, Media and Sport ensures that the Youth Strategy includes improving joint working between domestic abuse and youth organisations, at both a policy and practice level, to acknowledge the overlap between childhood exposure to domestic abuse, and involvement in serious youth violence.
Let’s get to work!
See the full report here: dac_bcyp_main-report_FINAL-DIGITAL.pdf
jadelevell.com 