Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Our Place – Safe Space
The impact of domestic violence on children and
young people
Improving Children’s Lives Conference
Queen’s University Belfast
20 – 22 February 2014
Sarah Mason and Sandra McNamee
Women’s Aid Federation Northern Ireland
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Domestic violence is impacting upon the
safety and stability of hundreds of millions of
children worldwide each year.
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Our key message…
Some of the biggest victims of
domestic violence are the smallest.
UNICEF (2006) Behind Closed Doors, the Impact of Domestic Violence on Children.
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
What do we know from research…?
• As many as 275 million worldwide are exposed to violence in the
home.
• Up to 963,000 children across the UK exposed to domestic violence.
• Approximately 32,000 children and young people living with
domestic violence in Northern Ireland.
Behind Closed Doors The Impact of Domestic Violence on Children UNICEF research (2006 )
• NSPCC research (November 2011) estimated 33,000 babies under 1
in England are living with a parent who reports domestic abuse.
Cuthbert, C et al (2011) All Babies Count. NSPCC
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
What about Northern Ireland?
PSNI statistics 2012-2013
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27,190 incidents with a domestic motivation reported.
PSNI responded to a domestic incident every 19 minutes every day.
29% of all murders had a domestic motivation.
Almost 2.5 times as many domestic related crimes as drug offences.
More than 5 times as many domestic related crimes as car thefts.
Statistics for MARACs (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences)
January 2010 - November2013, 6049 high risk cases of domestic
violence involving 8162 children discussed.
Police Recorded Crime in Northern Ireland: Monthly Update to 31 March 2012. Published, May 2012.
PSNI Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Total number of calls managed
between April 2012 - March 2013
47,597 (8.5 % increase)
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Children experience domestic violence
with all their senses.
They see it, hear it, feel it… fear it.
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
How does domestic
violence impact upon
children and young
people?
Fear
Loss of
confidence
Stress
Anger
Trauma
Effects of
domestic violence
on children and
young people
Shame
Confusion
Lack of
trust
Isolation
Guilt
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
What do children and young people tell us?
I didn’t feel safe. I was scared at home and was
constantly getting up to make sure the doors
were locked at night. I was always worried
about my mam’s safety.
I blamed myself for what was going on and
always felt I was going to be in trouble.
I couldn’t control my anger, I couldn’t
communicate with people properly or get my
opinion across without getting annoyed and
mad. I didn’t feel happy and didn’t trust
anyone.
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Every child has the right to grow up safe from harm
and should feel that those they love are also
protected. Violence in the home shatters a child’s
basic right to feel safe and secure in the world.
Behind Closed Doors The Impact of Domestic Violence on Children UNICEF research
Women’s Aid believes domestic violence is a
violation of children’s rights.
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Meeting the needs of children and young
people has always been a priority in
Women’s Aid.
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Getting it Right! –
Learning from the experts…
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To have a safe space that’s our place
To be happy
To have adults we can trust
To be clearer about abuse
To have information more ready for us
For stigma to be removed.
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Our vision for children and young people
“Our Place-Safe Space”-a future where all children and
young people are safe and protected from domestic and
sexual violence; where they have self-belief, respect for
themselves and others and where their fundamental
human rights are met.
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Our model for
working with
children and young
people
Prevention
work
Working
with
mothers
Partnership
working
Qualified
staff
floating
support/
outreach
Vision
Group
work and
one to one
work
Supporting
children in
refuge
Social/
recreational
activities
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Prevention work in schools
Helping Hands for Children
(primary)
Heading for Healthy Relationships H4HR
(post primary)
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Developing Social
Guardians to deliver
Helping Hands
We all have the right
to feel safe all of the
time
Children feel
and/or are unsafe
Others have the
right to feel safe
with us
Individuals
motivated to
cause pain,
injury and
distress
Lack of social
guardians
There is nothing so
awful or so small that
we can’t talk about it
with someone
Plan to Protect Model, Developing Social Guardians to Deliver Helping Hands training
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Capacity building with teachers
Developing Social Guardians to deliver Helping Hands
In 2012 – 2013
120 schools involved
168 teachers trained
To date:
410 schools involved
614 teachers trained
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Feedback from teachers…
I will deliver PDMU with more knowledge,
insight and sensitivity, aiming to strongly
deliver the message of the right to feel
safe and the importance of talking to
someone.
Very easy to implement and integrate into
the curriculum. A good resource for both
pupils and teachers. Very enthusiastically
and professionally delivered.
It was very important for teachers to learn
about the types of negative experiences
that children are subjected to at home
and how this can impact upon their
behaviour and learning at school.
One of the best programmes I have
been involved with.
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Working with mothers
Dr. Liz Kelly points out
"One simple and yet key principle from which we can begin is that
woman protection is frequently the most effective form of child
protection".
Holder, R et al (1994) Suffering in Silence?
Children and Young People who witness Domestic Violence
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
You and Me, Mum
Overall aim
• To provide a ten week self help programme, which will empower,
support and develop further understanding of role as mothers, in
addressing the needs of children and young people who have lived
with domestic violence.
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Supporting mothers – You and Me, Mum
Case study
Kelly’s story
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
How do we measure outcomes for children and
young people?
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Based upon high level outcomes
Suite of key performance indicators
Operates at local and regional levels
Quantitative and qualitative data
Utilises creative qualitative evaluation tools
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Measuring outcomes (2012-2013)
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546 children accommodated in refuge.
4,469 children indirectly supported through Floating Support service.
14 babies were born to women in refuge.
1,517 one to one support sessions held with children and young people in
refuge.
Since 1999, Women’s Aid across Northern Ireland has provided refuge to
14,902 children and young people
Since 2008, 515 mothers and 884 children supported through You & Me,
Mum
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
In 2012- 2013
Women’s Aid
supported 5,767
children and young
people
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Our most important
measurement tool…
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Children 5 – 10
If I could sum up in one sentence how
Women’s Aid has helped me it would be…
To be able to
tell my mum
how I’m feeling
I know to tell
someone
about bad
secrets
To know my oh
oh! Signs
I feel safe
and happy
I will feel lost
without them
It made me
happy
It was the best
ever
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Young people 11 - 18
If I could sum up in one sentence how
Women’s Aid has helped me it would be…
I am happier
and not getting
into trouble at
school
It helped my
moods and
behaviour
That it helped
me to feel
better and
safer
I know what to
do when I am
scared
Becoming
valued by
myself
I am happier
now
I learned how
to have respect
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
After getting support I feel safe and more confident to go up the
town. I am not as worried about mam’s safety as I was. I’m not
feeling as angry as I was. I am now aware of the danger signs
and what to do in a difficult situation.
I am now happy to talk about what happened,
even though I do not like what happened. I
am now able to talk to my friends and my
support worker about life.
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Things that could have been better…
More talking
and less
filling stuff
in!
More
trips!
More
parties!
A longer
programme (I
didn’t want it to
end).
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
The importance of supporting mothers and children
If children don’t have opportunities to be involved in individual
work and if mums don’t have opportunities to get support,
children are more likely to have poor outcomes in late childhood
and also into adulthood.
Dr John Devaney, Director of Education for Social Work, Queens University Belfast
WAFNI You and Me, Mum evaluation 2013
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
Thank you for listening.
Our Place – Safe Space
A 5 year strategy for children and young people
To find out more about our services…