Submission from National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Northern Ireland
NSPCC in Northern Ireland
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NSPCC in Northern Ireland briefing for Health Committee on the Domestic Abuse and Family Proceedings Bill
The NSPCC in Northern Ireland welcomes the opportunity to give evidence on the Domestic Abuse and Family Proceedings Bill. We welcome the introduction of this Bill, and moves to make domestic abuse a specific criminal offence. The Bill is a once in a generation opportunity to deliver a step change to our response to domestic abuse.
While we welcome the Bill, we do feel amendments are necessary if it is truly to take account of the needs of children affected by domestic abuse. The COVID-19 crisis has underlined how important this is, with levels of domestic expected to rise and vital support services coming under further pressure.
Below are set out the key considerations of the Bill as it affects health and social care. In this respect, we have reserved our comments to Part 1 of the Bill.
The impact of domestic abuse on children
Domestic abuse has a devastating impact on children and young people. Living in a home where domestic abuse takes place can have a profound impact on a child’s physical, mental and emotional wellbeing, as well as their behaviour. The effects of experiencing this form of harm can last well into adulthood.
Children’s experiences of domestic abuse are often connected to those of their parent or carer but are also distinct. Examples of this include being expected to defend the abused parents against physical harm or be drawn into violence or coercively controlling behaviours to further punish the adult victim.1 Children’s experiences of disclosure can also be traumatising, as disclosure can result in instability because it may result in leaving the family home and moving into accommodation, or feelings of guilt or shame due to disclosing the abuse and punishing the parent who is causing harm.2
The COVID-19 pandemic and related public health measures have shone a spotlight on the scale of domestic abuse. Since lockdown measures were introduced in late March, we have seen a noticeable rise in domestic abuse contacts to our Childline and Helpline services.
Children affected by domestic abuse are finding it harder to cope than usual, as sources of support that might previously have been available to them - friends, teachers, school counsellors, health visitors, sports clubs - have been reduced or cut off entirely. Now, more than ever, children are turning to Childline for emotional support and advice on how to keep themselves safe. Children and adults experiencing domestic abuse also feel worried to leave their homes for risk of getting sick.
There are also concerns that those who commit domestic abuse are using lockdown and social distancing measures to assert more coercively controlling behavior, such as taking away not allowing their partner or children to leave the family home and limiting contact with other loved ones, friends or safeguarding professionals.
Domestic Abuse and Family Proceedings Bill
There are two key aspects of the Bill where we think improvements should be made to provide clarity and better recognise how children and young people experience domestic abuse.
1. Children should not fall under the definition of the offence, but their experiences should be recognised
At present the offence can apply to individuals of any age. This contrasts with the Domestic Abuse Bill currently before Westminster which explicitly states that the offence being created applies where both A and B are aged sixteen or over. We would endorse a similar threshold for the NI Bill.
Including children under the age of sixteen in the definition of domestic abuse risks – in terms of their own relationships - risks confusing the child protection response, with situations of domestic abuse being dealt with through a more punitive, criminal justice lens, rather than with a more protective, health and social care -based. Both in cases where a child is experiencing abuse, and where a child is engaged in harmful behaviours, should be child-centred, seek to prevent further harm and promote recovery. We are not convinced that, in the majority of cases, a criminal justice response would be the most appropriate.
However, while we believe the proposed offence should not apply to those under age 16, we do believe that the offence should capture the experiences of children living within the context of an abusive relationship between adults. This recognition is achieved to some extent in the aggravators contained in ss8-9 of the Bill, but we believe provisions should go further.
The impact on children of seeing, hearing or being otherwise exposed to domestic abuse perpetrated by one adult against another is such that they must be considered to have experienced the domestic abuse as well, and not merely to have passively witnessed it. We would welcome amendment of the statutory definition which recognised that children – who are neither A or B – can directly experience the behaviour of A.
2. Introduce a statutory duty on Health and Social Care Trusts to deliver support services
With the right support, children affected by domestic abuse can recover and go on to lead happy and healthy childhoods. In creating the specific offence, we also need to ensure there is sufficient provision for those affected by domestic abuse. This is particularly pressing in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, when there will almost certainly be increased need and demand.
A child’s experience of domestic abuse is different to that of an adult and so specialist child-centred support is needed to help children recover and move forward with their lives.
Evidence has identified that children have a better chance of recovering from domestic abuse when they have a strong relationship with the parent victim of abuse, usually the mother.3 The Domestic Abuse Recovering Together (DART) service run by the NSPCC, and delivered from our Belfast service centre, helps children and mothers talk to each other about domestic abuse, learn to communicate and rebuild their relationship. Over a number of sessions, mothers and children aged 7-14 meet for a weekly two-hour group session, and then take part in activities in separate groups. Mothers learn about how domestic abuse happens and the impact it has on children. Children take part in activities together that help them build their own understanding of domestic abuse, how they’re feeling and how to keep themselves safe. They then join together again to conclude the session. Evaluations of the programme found that:
- mothers’ self-esteem and confidence in parenting increased, and they reported more affection towards their children
- children had fewer emotional and behavioural difficulties; reductions were greater among children who received DART than those involved in an alternative service
The Domestic Abuse Bill at Westminster includes a duty on local authorities to provide support to adult and child survivors in accommodation-based services, like refuges. The NI Bill should include a similar provision, although ensure it is not limited to accommodation services only. We advocate the addition of a duty on Health and Social Care Trusts to deliver to make available specialist support services for all adult and child victims, as well as perpetrators and children exhibiting abusive behaviours, regardless of where they live.
Footnotes
1 Dr Jane Callaghan (Beyond Witnessing: Children’s Experiences of Coercive Control in Domestic Violence and Abuse, 2016, Journal of Interpersonal Violence) and Dr Emma Katz (Coercive Control, Domestic Violence and a Five Factor Framework: Five Factors that Influence Closeness, Distance and Strain in the Mother-Child Relationship, 2019, Violence Against Women),
2 Dr Emma Katz, Coercive Control, Domestic Violence and a Five Factor Framework: Five Factors that Influence Closeness, Distance and Strain in the Mother-Child Relationship, 2019, Violence Against Women),
3 Katz, 2019.
