Domestic Violence and Childhood

In an idyllic world the issue of domestic abuse would be absent as an embedded problem within society. The unfortunate reality, however, is that domestic abuse constitutes a significant proportion of referrals made to The Island and is a prominent and recurring problem that permeates within British Society and familial life as a whole.

During the period March 2016-June 2019, 15% of young people referred to The Island had issues synonymous with parental domestic violence and child protection identified as their primary need for targeted intervention. Likewise, during the period March 2016-July 2017 29% of referred young people had being witness to domestic violence identified as their secondary need for intervention by The Island.

These statistics are broadly correlative with findings from larger organisations such as Women’s Aid who found that one in seven (14.2%) children and young people under the age of 18 will have lived with domestic violence at some point in their childhood in the UK. All these findings accentuate the systemic nature of domestic abuse and its status as an endemic problem within British family life.

The Island is resolute and determined to use its position to support the campaign against domestic abuse and to assist those who are victims of this pervasive problem. Indeed, there are many young people currently involved with and using The Island’s services that were referred for issues interrelated with domestic abuse.

These young people, who have domestic abuse identified as their primary need, are offered targeted intervention that will specifically address and mitigate the impacts of domestic abuse and hopefully improve their perspective and outlook on life. All trained mentors, for example, have to complete independent E-Learning certificates, through IDAS (Independent Domestic Abuse Services) that helps increase their understanding of issues related to domestic violence and how to identify and deal with victims of it.

The Island operates and matches its mentors with referred young people through matching criteria based off the young person’s primary area of need to ensure the relationship is as beneficial as possible. This covers a wide encompassing range of traits including common interests, similar behaviours and location. The benefit of this process is that it allows The Island to match mentoring relationships that will be the most beneficial and influential on the young person by tailoring to the individual needs of each individual young person. This includes young people who have been specifically referred for issues related to experiencing domestic abuse.

Margaret is one of the many young people that were referred to The Island with the issue of parental domestic violence identified as their primary need that needed targeted intervention. At a young age Margaret had been exposed to domestic violence between her parents that led to her dads’ estrangement from the family. Margaret had been old enough to remember these incidents and their impact on the family as a whole which substantially impacted her confidence and emotional wellbeing.

Through The Island, Margaret was matched with a psychology student who had a background in placements helping children, including a project where she visited Tanzania and assisted with teaching young people there. She was noted as having excellent communication skills and adaptability depending on situations/environments. This was ideal for Margaret whose experience of domestic violence had made her more withdrawn and socially anxious.

During their mentoring sessions, Margaret’s mentor would often incorporate crafts including working on a scrapbook and teaching each other how to make friendship bracelets. She was patient and always tried her best to ensure Margaret felt comfortable and benefitted from the sessions.

Sessions occurred consistently and were always adhered to match Margaret’s interests. This ranged from arts and crafts to going for trampolining sessions, allowing Margaret to maximise the opportunities The Island could offer to her. Once things came to an end, Margaret’s mum reported that mentoring had positively contributed to her daughters’ growth in confidence and self-esteem in addition to improvements in her daughters’ emotional well-being.

Margaret is a microcosmic case study that encapsulates and represents the important and beneficial impact that The Island has on many young people who have experienced domestic violence within York. This includes improving their confidence, self-esteem, communication skills and emotional well-being. For every £100 donated The Island can provide 10 mentoring sessions for a young person like Margaret who has been a victim or witness to domestic violence and help improve their perspective on life.

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