Impact Report 2022-23
In this year’s report, we highlight our role as a critical friend, walking alongside local areas to help them to take a systems-wide look at what’s going on for those affected by domestic abuse right now, assessing risks and gaps, strengths and opportunities, and adopting a whole family approach to transform the response.
Our understanding of how harming behaviour begins has continued to grow through our Safe Young Lives programme. This has included publication of new research exploring relationships and sex education in English secondary schools, and our discovery report, Verge of Harming, which outlines how and why harmful behaviour can start among young people.
We know we won’t end domestic abuse without challenging perpetrators to change and without building the confidence of frontline professionals to focus on those who harm. That’s why we have continued to address this through our Drive partnership programme – where the team continue to build momentum with the Restart project to more closely involve housing and social care professionals in responding to perpetrators of abuse – and our Engaging with Those that Harm training, which is supporting social workers and early help teams.
Increasing safety for all those at risk remains fundamental to everything we do. In spring 2023, we launched our first report on whole family working at local level, which contains a series of recommendations aimed at local areas and national policymakers.
We have continued to work with survivors to achieve change. Their experience led us to develop our new training for family lawyers, designed to help their understanding and improve experiences for adults and children in the Family Court.
As we move forwards, we will prioritise our multi-agency work to ensure a coordinated community response to the whole family, increasing the capability of those at the
frontline, making sure the authentic voice of survivors is integral in all that we do, and speaking out for better legislation and enforcement of victims’ rights.
A huge thank you to every person and organisation who has made progress possible and who believes that one day we will be free from domestic abuse and its devastating impact.
