On the 11 May the Commissioner spoke at the Safe and Together Model 2023 European Conference setting the scene for a domestic abuse informed response to child welfare in the UK. She focused on why it is needed, the impact of not doing it and how this aligns with the priorities in the Domestic Abuse Act.
The Commissioner said: “The Domestic Abuse Act made real strides in recognising children as victims in their own right through the new statutory definition of domestic abuse. This change underlines how important it is that children are able to access specialist and targeted domestic abuse support.
“But significant questions remain about what this change means in practice. We are a long way from where we need to be in terms of ensuring that every child victim has access to the high-quality specialist support they are entitled to, with a clear national standard and consistent referral pathways.’
The conference consisted of a series of talks and workshops from the DA/ VAWG sector. Other speakers included David Mandel, Emma Katz, Adam Joel (coercive control film writer), Ruth Reymundo Mandel and Anna Mitchell.