Charity targets young victims of violence

Witnessing violence at home can have a major emotional impact on children

A leading British charity is extending its services after finding that one in five of its child abuse cases involved domestic violence.

The National Society for the Prevention against Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) reports that 21% of abuse cases handled by its own protection teams in England and Wales involved some degree of violence in the home.

"Domestic violence is something people are often aware of but ignore because it is behind closed doors, between adults in private," said the NSPCC's director and chief executive, Jim Harding.

"It is becoming apparent that we cannot continue to bury our heads in the sand and ignore the fact that children living with domestic violence are being harmed."

The NSPCC is distributing 250,000 credit-card style leaflets to health visitors, nurses and GPs who will be encouraged to hand them out to mothers and children considered at risk.

The so-called Call Card is designed to be small and discreet because many mothers fear that the act of seeking help could provoke their partners into further acts of violence.

It will list the NSPCC's extended Child Protection and Women's Aid Helplines, tell mothers how they can protect their children and reassure them that they will not necessarily be taken into care if they decide to seek help.

The campaign, launched on May 6, which marks the NSPCC's Children's Day, also aims to highlight the emotional and psychological harm caused to youngsters who witness adults in violent situations at home.

"Because mothers are involved in a domestic violence situation themselves, they may not be aware of the impact it is having on their children," said the NSPCC's senior policy adviser, Chris Cloke.

He told BBC News Online that the goverment could do more to tackle a problem that affects people from all social backgrounds.

"The NSPCC has concerns that both domestic violence and the impact on children and child protection issues are not given sufficient priority," he said.

Helpline scaled down

The intitiative comes at a time when the only national 24-hour helpline devoted to domestic violence - run by Refuge - is facing closure because of lack of funds.

The service, which also provides a support programme for children, has been reduced from four to one telephone line after it was refused an additional National Lottery grant.

The NSPCC believes the government can take measures to reduce the number of incidences by:

• Taking an integrated approach to the problem by bringing together government departments, Domestic Violence forums and Area Child Protection Committee
  
• Making health professionals aware that domestic violence and child abuse often overlap
  
• Implementing the Family Law Act which aims to protect women and children from violence - the offending partner can be excluded
  
• Offering "violence management programmes" to those perpetrating violence
  
• Driving home the message that domestic violence is unacceptable and inform the public about sources of help using poster campaigns

Last year, the NSPCC Child Protection Line received more than 70,000 direct requests for help although it is not known how many of those were related to domestic violence.