Organisations and services providing support for children and young people impacted by domestic abuse:

In the past, people have wrongly believed that children were not aware of the domestic abuse that was happening to their parent or caregiver. We know, now, that most children and young people are very aware of what is happening; children see and hear abusive behaviours (or their impacts), try to stop abuse or to help survivors, are used, coerced, or manipulated to take part in the abuse, or are abused themselves. There is a large overlap between abusive behaviours used against an adult, and abusive behaviours used against children and young people.

Whatever the situation, children and young people are impacted by domestic abuse, and need support. They may find it hard to reach out for help; they may not have the words to describe what is happening, they may be worried that no one will believe them, or they may worry that by reaching out, they will cause unwanted changes. Abusers often scare children and young people into not telling anyone, particularly professionals, about the abuse. For example, they may tell a child that it will be their fault if the family splits up, and that they will end up in care.

It is really important that children and young people receive reassurance from the adults in their lives, and that they have safe spaces where they can talk with professionals about their experiences and their feelings. If a child or young person wants or needs support, you can help them by creating opportunities to get in touch safely, for example by letting them use your computer or telephone. You could also telephone the organisations yourself, with the child or young person sitting beside you, and hand over the phone to them when they are ready to speak. To help children and young people access face-to-face support, you could offer to drive them to appointments, or accompany them (if this is what they want).

A number of specialist services are listed below, but it is also important to remember that, for many children and young people, their teacher, youth worker, or GP (doctor) are the professionals that they are most likely to tell. These people are often seen as trusted individuals, who the child or young person has a relationship with, but who are not part of the family. All professionals have a responsibility to think about child safeguarding as part of their role; to assess whether the child is at risk of harm, and whether there are actions needed which will make the child or young person safer.