(Blaydon) (Lab): But the concern
is about criminalisation. Will you tell us a little more about
that, and are there ways to work around it?
Andrea Simon: Is this for under-16s?
Yes.
Andrea Simon (Head of Public Affairs, End Violence Against
Women): I think it is probably unhelpful, as I said, to
look at criminalising under-16s in terms of the offence of
domestic abuse. There are dynamics for young people who are in
relationships that are very concerning and worrying, and they
need to be tackled, but we are keen that we do not conflate
different types of abuse. There are very specific ways of dealing
with child sexual exploitation and child abuse, and to conflate
that with domestic abuse would be problematic. That is why it is
important to recognise, acknowledge and deal with that, and it is
certainly important to deal with and tackle attitudes and
behaviours among young people in relationships, but it doesn’t
necessarily need to sit within this frame.
Lucy Hadley (Campaigns and Policy Manager, Women’s Aid
Federation): I agree. We are talking about the impact of
living in a household where adults, predominantly, are
perpetrating domestic abuse, and the impact that has on a child.
Absolutely, there are lots of—sadly, far too many—cases where
children and young people experience domestic abuse in their own
relationships, but as Andrea said, that requires a strategy,
focus, attention and resources, and ways to tackle healthy
relationships and to recognise what is not healthy and what is
potentially coercive and controlling behaviour. Hopefully, this
sex and Relationships education that is to
become statutory for schools will go a long way to help with
that, but the risk of the law conflating child abuse and domestic
abuse, and criminalising children who are perpetrating unhealthy
behaviours between themselves, is concerning...
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