Organisations supporting children affected by domestic abuse have
been given a £3 million funding boost.
Today (Tuesday 28 April) the Home Office has announced £3.1
million will go to specialist services for children who have both
been directly and indirectly affected by domestic abuse. This can
include one-to-one and group counselling sessions to improve the
mental health of children affected and early intervention
schemes.
It comes as the ground-breaking Domestic Abuse Bill will be
debated by MPs at the Bill’s second reading today.
The new funding will be split between local authorities,
children’s charities and Police and Crime Commissioners across
England and Wales.
Minister for Safeguarding said:
It is unacceptable that some children have to witness appalling
abuse carried out in their home by those they should trust the
most.
This funding will go towards supporting these children, healing
their emotional scars, and ensuring they can move forwards and
have a positive future.
Recipients of the funding include Barnardo’s, Cambridgeshire
County Council and the Office of the Police and Crime
Commissioner for Northumbria.
Sarah Crawley, Director of Barnardo’s Cymru, said:
We are delighted that funding for our Opening Closed Doors
service will continue for another year. Domestic abuse is an
epidemic with devastating effects on children and their
families. It leaves families in a state of trauma, with
significant impact on their emotional and mental health.
Sadly the pandemic has seen incidents of domestic violence
escalate still further and has highlighted the importance of
support for families.
The Domestic Abuse Bill will introduce a wide range of measures
to support victims and survivors of domestic abuse as well as
ensure perpetrators are punished. Some of the measures included
in the Bill include:
- create a statutory definition of domestic abuse, emphasising
it can be more than just physical violence
- establish the role of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner in law
- provide police with new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders and
Domestic Abuse Protection Notices
- place a statutory duty on local authorities to provide
support to victims of domestic abuse
- prohibit perpetrators from cross examining witnesses in
family courts in England and Wales
- ensure victims of domestic abuse receive special measures in
criminal courts, such as allowing them to provide evidence by
video link
In addition to the funding and measures in the Bill, the
government has provided additional support to help those at risk
of domestic abuse during the coronavirus outbreak.
Earlier this month, the Home Secretary
launched the #YouAreNotAlone domestic abuse public awareness
campaign which has reached more than 120 million people
online, and pledged a further £2 million to bolster domestic
abuse charities online support services.
Further measures include:
