The Home Office has announced that new funding will be allocated to develop early intervention strategies to protect women and girls from domestic abuse.
The UK Government has announced that over £10 million has been allocated to organisations that are providing crucial support to children who have survived domestic abuse. This includes counselling and 1:1 support, with projects including Welsh Women’s Aid, The Children’s Society and SafeLives.
Thanks to the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, children are now legally regarded as domestic abuse victims in their own right where they may have seen, heard or experienced the effects of domestic abuse and are related to either the perpetrator or the victim.
Sarah Dines, Minister for Safeguarding, said:
“The impact of domestic abuse is devastating and it is especially heartbreaking that children are being affected by this horrific crime. This is why we have invested additional funding into vital services supporting children who have been impacted.
“We are also proud to invest further in projects which identify the most effective ways to intervene early and prevent these crimes from being committed in the first place, which will protect those most vulnerable to abuse.”
The funding, coming as part of the latest iteration of the Children Affected by Domestic Abuse Fund, will see £10.3 million being allocated over the course of three years. The money will be distributed between eight organisations, including more than £2.5 million being set aside for Welsh Women’s Aid.
£7.4 million is also to be used to prioritise early intervention and research programmes.These will look into the most effective ways of preventing domestic abuse and marks a key commitment to the Tackling Violence against Women and Girls Strategy.
Minister for Children and Families, Claire Coutinho, said:
“Instead of a safe and stable family life, children who experienced domestic abuse are growing up with pain and conflict at home as their norm. The investment will provide crucial support like 1:1 counselling and support work for those affected by domestic abuse.”
In March 2022, the government published the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, which set out the investment of over £230 million in stopping abuse. This funding includes over £140 million for supporting victims and over £81 million for tackling perpetrators.
