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What about children & young people
Domestic violence has a devastating impact on children and young people that can last into adulthood. Our dedicated services offer specialist emotional and practical support for children and young people affected by domestic violence/abuse
- One in seven (14.2%) children and young people under the age of 18 will have lived with domestic violence at some point in their childhood.
- On just one day in 2015, two thirds of women living in refuge had a child or children with them (66.95% of 1864 women) and 6.12% (of 1864 women) were pregnant (responses from 133 services).
- Domestic violence can co-exist with child abuse, through direct abuse of children in addition to their exposure to the abuse of their mothers. One study found that 34.4% of under-18s who had lived with domestic violence had also been abused or neglected by a parent or guardian. (From a sample representative of the population in the UK.)
- A study of 139 overview reports from Serious Case Reviews (a SCR takes place after a child dies or is seriously injured and abuse or neglect is thought to have been involved) found that about two-thirds (63%) of cases featured domestic abuse.
- Between January 2005 and August 2015 (inclusive) 19 children and two women were killed by perpetrators of domestic abuse in circumstances relating to child contact (formally or informally arranged).
Are the effects the same for every child?
Children can experience both short and long term cognitive, behavioural and emotional effects as a result of witnessing domestic abuse. Each child will respond differently to trauma and some may be resilient and not exhibit any negative effects.
Children’s responses to the trauma of witnessing domestic abuse may vary according to a multitude of factors including, but not limited to, age, race, sex and stage of development. It is equally important to remember that these responses may also be caused by something other than witnessing domestic abuse.
Children are individuals and may respond to witnessing abuse in different ways. These are some of the effects described in a briefing by the Royal College of Psychiatrists (2004):
- They may become anxious or depressed
- They may have difficulty sleeping
- They have nightmares or flashbacks
- They can be easily startled
- They may complain of physical symptoms such as tummy aches
- They may start to wet their bed
- They may have temper tantrums
- They may behave as though they are much younger than they are
- They may have problems with school
- They may become aggressive or they may internalise their distress and withdraw from other people
- They may have a lowered sense of self-worth
- Older children may begin to play truant or start to use alcohol or drugs
- They may begin to self-harm by taking overdoses or cutting themselves
- They may have an eating disorder
Call into the One Stop shop
The One Stop Shop is not open without an appointment currently due to Covid 19 but we'll let you know as soon as we are open fully again - you can phone us 24/7 on our crisis helpline number
