Domestic Abuse

This procedure applies when there are concerns about a child or an unborn child who is experiencing domestic abuse.

The statutory definition of domestic abuse introduced under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 states that behaviour of a person towards another person is considered domestic abuse if both individuals are aged 16 or over, are personally connected, and the behaviour is abusive. There is no requirement for them to reside within the same household. The Act also recognised that children affected by domestic abuse should automatically treated as victims regardless of whether they were present during the domestic abuse.

Behaviour is “abusive” if it consists of any of the following:

1. physical or sexual abuse;
2. violent or threatening behaviour;
3. controlling or coercive behaviour;
4. economic abuse;
5. psychological, emotional or other abuse.

It does not matter whether the behaviour consists of a single incident or a course of conduct, and may include conduct towards others, for example a child or a pet, that is designed to threaten or control the victim.

The term "personally connected" is not limited to intimate partners and includes ex-partners, family members, relatives or individuals who share parental responsibility for a child.

While domestic abuse is not itself a specific criminal offence, criminal offences may be committed by perpetrators. Related offences could include but are not limited to controlling or coercive behaviour, harassment, stalking, criminal damage, physical assault, sexual assault, rape and murder.

Anyone can be affected by domestic abuse and can manifest itself in different ways within different communities. Whilst both men and women can be affected by domestic abuse, women disproportionately experience domestic abuse.

Domestic abuse can encompass a wide range of behaviours and can involve abuse facilitated and perpetrated online or offline. The perpetrator’s desire to exercise power and control over the another is at the centre of abusive behaviours. Those who experience domestic abuse will experience a wide range abusive behaviours simultaneously, perpetrators use a wide range and use different tactics to gain power and control.

There are different types of domestic abuse:

• Intimate partner abuse - domestic abuse most commonly takes place in intimate partner relationships/ex-relationships, including same sex relationships;
• Teenage relationship abuse - young people can experience domestic abuse within their relationships however they may not identify it as such. It has the same potential to be harmful and life threatening as abuse in adult relationships. Responding to cases of abuse involving those under 18 is a safeguarding issue, even if the child experiencing abuse and child causing harm are at least 16 years old and fall under the statutory definition of domestic abuse. Also see Children who Present a Risk of Harm to Others procedure;
• Abuse by family members perpetrated by a family member: by children, grandchildren, parents, those with “parental responsibility”, siblings, or extended families including in-laws. Abuse may be perpetrated towards a victim by more than one relative and can encompass a number of different harmful behaviours, including so-called ‘honour based’ abuse, forced marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM). See also Safeguarding Children at Risk of Abuse through Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Procedure, Honour Based Abuse and Violence Procedure and Forced Marriage Procedure;
• Child-to-parent abuse commonly referred to as Adolescent to Parent Violence/Abuse (APV/A) Child-to-parent abuse can involve children of all ages, including adult children, and abuse toward siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles as well as other family members such as those acting as kinship carers. Responding to cases of abuse involving those under 18 is a safeguarding issue, even if the child is 16 years of age or over and fall under the statutory definition of domestic abuse in the 2021 Act.

See Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse (APVA) procedure.

Domestic abuse is significantly under reported as there can be many barriers to disclosing abuse, assessing services and seeking criminal justice outcomes. Domestic abuse is complex. It can go unidentified by agencies, families and friends, and those experiencing domestic abuse may not recognise the behaviour is abusive.

See Domestic Abuse: Statutory Guidance for descriptions and examples of a range of abusive behaviours to help with identifying domestic abuse, the types of domestic abuse and the different experiences, needs and related considerations.

For additional information on controlling or coercive behaviour See Controlling or coercive behaviour: statutory guidance framework.

Domestic abuse has a significant impact on children of all ages. Children may experience domestic abuse directly, or indirectly due to the impact the abuse has on others, such as the non-abusive parent. Experience of domestic abuse is recognised as an Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE).

Any abuse directed towards the child is defined as child abuse.

Where there is domestic abuse, the wellbeing of the children in the household must be promoted and all assessments must consider the need to safeguard the children, including unborn children and connected children who live elsewhere.

Practitioners should also recognise that young people causing harm in their intimate relationships or to those in their family tend to have multiple problems and will need support to help change their behaviour.

In all cases, it is important that practitioners from children's agencies and adult agencies work together using a 'Think Family' approach to ensure the needs of both the child and parent are considered. At all times the welfare of the child remains paramount.

All Practitioners should be alert to the signs that a child or adult may be experiencing domestic abuse, or that someone may be perpetrating domestic abuse. Recognising these factors is crucial for prevention and intervention.

Practitioners who are in contact with adults who are threatening or abusive to them need to be alert to the potential that these individuals may be abusive in their personal relationships and assess whether domestic abuse is occurring within the family.

Practitioners may observe several signs indicating that an adult is experiencing domestic abuse. These signs can be physical, emotional, behavioural, and situational:

• Physical Signs: including injuries, frequent visits to healthcare providers or wearing clothing that covers up injuries
• Emotional and Psychological Signs: such as anxiety, depression, or low self-esteem, fearfulness or nervousness around their partner or sudden changes in mood or behaviour
• Behavioural Signs: including withdrawal from social activities and isolation from friends and family, reluctance to speak openly or make decisions without their partner's approval or increased use of alcohol or drugs as a coping mechanism
• Control and Isolation: such as limited access to money, transportation, or communication devices, partner frequently checking up on them or monitoring their activities or being prevented from attending work, school, or social events
• Work and Social Life: including frequent absences or lateness at work or school, decreased productivity or concentration, partner showing up unexpectedly at their workplace or social gatherings
• Situational Signs: reports of controlling or jealous behaviour by the partner, evidence of financial control, such as not having access to money or being forced to account for every penny spent or signs of coercive control, such as being forced to follow strict rules or schedules

Children who experience domestic abuse can also exhibit a range of indicators, including:

• Behavioural Changes: such as changes in play, aggression or bullying, withdrawal, attention seeking or frequent outbursts
• Emotional Signs: such as signs of anxiety, depression, being overly fearful or anxious or low self-esteem
• Physical Symptoms: bedwetting, experiencing nightmares or insomnia or frequent Illness
• School-Related Issues: difficulty concentrating or learning at school, behavioural issues, poor attendance
• Risky Behaviours: Such as drug and or alcohol use or self-harm

It is important to remember that some adults and children may not show any indications that they are experiencing domestic abuse, however this does not mean that they are not impacted by the abuse.

Adults who are experiencing domestic abuse may not have disclosed what they and their children are going through; on average they are reported to have experience 35 incidents before there is any form of disclosure. Practitioners should be mindful of the significant reasons for this, including fear of retaliation from the abuser, shame and embarrassment, social stigma and cultural norms, economic dependency, concern for children and the impact on family dynamics, lack of awareness about available support services and legal protections and mistrust of services.

Practitioners can support the identification of children and adults experiencing domestic abuse by conducting routine enquiry as part of the services they provide. Those experiencing domestic abuse are more likely to tell someone about it if they are directly asked.

Routine enquiry is especially important for health services such as Emergency Departments, Midwifery, Health Visiting, General Practice, sexual health, alcohol or drug misuse, mental health services as well as children’s, and adults’ services.

Routine enquiry involves asking service users about their experiences of domestic abuse, regardless of whether there are any signs of abuse, or whether abuse is suspected. Careful consideration must be given when enquiries are being made to ensure risk is not increased. For example, ensuring an individual is asked when they are alone and using an appropriately qualified professional interpreter rather than a family member.

In recognition of the increase in virtual health services, specific guidance has been developed to safely ask patients about domestic abuse. See Domestic abuse guidance for virtual health settings.

Practitioners, especially those in health, children’s or adult services should ensure that they make enquires about domestic abuse where appropriate as this may help to identify individuals at risk and ensure support is made available. Where it is not possible to conduct routine enquiry privately with the individual, practitioners should ensure they make arrangements to explore if domestic abuse is occurring for an individual or family.  

Routine enquiries must not be used by schools following police domestic abuse notifications. See Section 4: Schools and Operation Encompass.

The Police are often the first point of contact when there is a domestic abuse incident, and they (or any other agency that becomes aware of domestic abuse) should ensure the immediate safety of the adult victim and child victims. See Derby and Derbyshire domestic abuse referral pathway in Document Library, flowcharts.

The police will:

• Complete the Safelives DASH Risk Identification Checklist – also known by the Police as a Public Protection Notice (PPN) (see Documents Library, Assessment Tools) to identify level of risk;
• Find out whether there are any children living in the household, including any unborn children;
• Take steps to ascertain the child’s voice and assess their safety, and in emergency situations take immediate action using police protection powers;
• Send a domestic abuse notification to the school attended by statutory school age child or the relevant local authority education service when a child is not in school e.g., electively home educated, child missing education, without a school place, not in employment or training, via Operation Encompass (previously known locally as the Stopping Domestic Abuse Together Initiative);

See Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, Section 20.

• Notify relevant health services via agreed processes;
• Inform parents/carers that a notification will be sent relevant health services, education providers child is statutory school age and where appropriate social care. or local authority education service if they are not in school.

All cases are reviewed and triaged by the police Domestic Abuse Review Team (DART) to review risk and determine if information needs sharing with children’s social care.

The DART team will automatically refer to children’s social care and share information in the PPN whenever there is:

• High risk domestic abuse and a child/unborn is living in the household;
• Child/unborn child is open to Social Care;
• Child is not currently in School;
• Three or more previous DA incidents in last three months (any risk level);
• The application of Threshold criteria dictates a referral.

The police also currently notify children’s social care about all medium risk cases.

In addition to the above information sharing system, the police and children’s social care hold ‘Pitstop’ meetings to discuss notifications, explore threshold decisions and determine if a notification is needed to be sent to children’s services outside of the usual DA Pathway.  

The Initial Response Team or Starting Point employ screening processes considering any previous incidents or concerns in line with the DDSCP Threshold document to consider intervention or assessment.

The needs of 16 or 17 year-olds experiencing domestic abuse or causing harm will also be considered in this process to ensure appropriate assessment and interventions.

The police will notify children’s social care about young people under the age of 16 via separate processes.

Also see Children who Present a Risk of Harm to Others procedure and Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse (APVA) procedure.

Health providers who receive police domestic abuse notifications will follow their own policies and processes for the management notifications.

Schools and Operation Encompass

Where there is a statutory school age child, the police will notify Derby and Derbyshire schools via Operation Encompass (previously known as Stopping Domestic Abuse Together/SDAT) informing them that a domestic abuse incident has taken place.

When a notification is received, school safeguarding staff should initially respond as they do in any situation where concerns are raised about a child. The child (and their parent/carer) should not be directly approached and asked about the incident, instead general observation, and enquiries about how they are should be made.

The school should consider what support they could offer the child according to their individual needs.

The Domestic Violence Risk Identification Matrix (DVRIM) (Documents Library, Assessment Tools) can help education providers reflect on what is known, not known and make a judgement about risk. Some children may benefit from an early help assessment to address any emerging needs and co-ordinate support from a range of early help services.

Also see Section 5: Assessment of child’s needs section.

If the school/college becomes concerned about what a child tells them and/or as a result of any assessment of the child, they should refer to the DDSCP Threshold Document to support their decision making about the child’s level of needs, risks and the help required and if felt necessary, make a referral to local authority children’s services. See Making a referral to Social Care Procedure.

For further information see Derby and Derbyshire Education Providers Stopping Domestic Abuse Together (SDAT) Guidance and Operation Encompass.

Children who experience domestic abuse are recognised as victims in the Domestic Abuse act if they see, hear or experience the effects of domestic abuse, reflecting the impact that domestic abuse has on children, including unborn babies. 

All forms of domestic abuse, including coercive control, can affect children both directly and indirectly if they live or are connected to households where there is domestic abuse. Alongside the distress prior to, while the abuse is occurring or afterwards, there is the likelihood that mental and physical health, development, behaviour and emotional wellbeing of children are affected in the short, medium and long term.

Domestic abuse can also bring significant disruption to a child’s life.

Children and young people of different ages may respond in different ways to domestic abuse, depending on their stage of development. The impact will vary depending on a range of factors such as age, sex, disability, race, socio economic context, severity of abuse and length of time subject to abuse, which can be compounded by disadvantage, marginalisation and access to support.

Babies and young children may be particularly vulnerable when living with domestic abuse, with protective factors often minimal for this age group. Children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are also particularly vulnerable.

Incidents of domestic abuse towards pregnant women are associated with poor obstetric outcomes, such as increased rates of miscarriage, premature birth, low birth weight, foetal injury and foetal death.

Children who are cared for by family members other than their parents and looked after children may also have additional needs that practitioners should consider.

Where there is evidence of domestic abuse, the implications for any children or unborn children in the household or connected to the household should be considered. This should include the possibility that the children may themselves be directly subject to violence or abuse.

It is important to remember that each child will respond to the trauma arising from domestic abuse differently and some may not exhibit any direct negative effects, or they may exhibit them later in life.

If practitioners identify that a child/unborn baby is living in a household where there is domestic abuse, parental/carer mental ill health and parental/carer drug and/or alcohol issues, the interaction between these complex issues, and cumulative harm they can cause, must be fully considered. These are indicators of increased risk to children and the likelihood of poor outcomes into adulthood, therefore effective assessment to clearly identify risk, strengths and resilience is required.

Practitioners must ensure that all cases where cumulative harm is present are discussed with their line manager and/or designated safeguarding lead to ensure that appropriate support and interventions are identified.

See the procedures for children in these specific circumstances: Working with Parents who are Misusing Substances Procedure and Working with Parents / Carers Who Have Mental Health Needs Procedure.

All practitioners must be alert to increased risk to the adult and child experiencing domestic abuse when the relationship with the perpetrator has ended or is in the process of ending. 

A child’s relationship with a trusted adult who has capacity to support them, wider family networks, friendship groups, and the type and frequency of the abuse are important factors. A trauma-informed approach, including receiving help from specialist children’s services reduces the impact of domestic abuse on children and improves their safety and health outcomes.

All practitioners should ensure that needs of the child are understood and prioritised. It is important for all practitioners to remain child focused and gain a clear perception of the lived experience of the child and to ensure that the child's voice is informing their assessment and analysis. An individual response for every child, including for unborn baby’s and siblings, should be developed.

Practitioners need to be mindful not to collude with or be over sympathetic with parents/carers. They should exercise professional curiosity looking beneath the behaviour, work with families to overcome any potential barriers and build strong relationships, making sure the child’s lived experience remains central.

Practitioners should use tools to support the assessment of needs, risks and strengths including:

• Safelives DASH Risk Checklist (RIC) (see Documents Library, Assessment Tools) for victims age 16 or over;
• Domestic Violence Risk Identification Matrix (DVRIM) (see Documents Library, Assessment Tools) to assess risks to children;
• Domestic Violence Risk Assessment Model (DVRAM) an assessment tool for use by Children's Social Care.
• A chronology of the frequency, severity and details of previous incidences of abuse and the impact on the child will help practitioners make judgements about the support, risks and services required.

Parenting assessments can contribute to a comprehensive and effective response to children who are experiencing domestic abuse, ensuring their safety and promoting their recovery by focussing on identifying risk and need, evaluating parenting capacity, developing safety plans, informing interventions and strengthening legal and social responses.

Anyone who has concerns about a child experiencing domestic abuse should consult with their agency designated/named professional for child protection. Consideration should be made to the level of needs, complexity and seriousness of the situation and the most appropriate response.

All agencies and practitioners should refer to the Derby City and Derbyshire Thresholds Document (see Documents Library, Guidance Documents) to identify the level of need and the appropriate assessment and interventions.

Input from specialist domestic abuse agencies should be sought to ensure appropriate support and advice is secured. In Derbyshire this can be accessed via the Domestic Abuse Support Line and in the City via Refuge Outreach. Where appropriate, adults experiencing domestic abuse victims should be encouraged and supported to access domestic abuse support services. Domestic abuse services also have specialist children’s support, e.g., therapeutic services and 1:1 support for children experiencing domestic abuse and for children at risk of causing harm.

Where there are low level needs not requiring early help or referral to Children's Services, agencies may take actions internally to provide support to the child and their family.

Where there are emerging needs (i.e. low-level domestic abuse) the child and family will require support and co-ordinated services through an Early Help Assessment. (See Providing Early Help Procedure). Practitioners should be mindful that there are likely to be circumstances where escalating levels of concern mean that the completion of an Early Help Assessment may be difficult; this could be due to the lack of agreement of the abusive adult or that by raising concerns there is an increased risk of harm to the child and/or the non-abusing parent/carer.

Work should be completed by practitioners involved with the child and family, if appropriate to do so, through an Early Help Assessment and Team Around the Family meetings. In the absence of consent or engagement where threshold is not met, practitioners should continue to monitor impact and offer support and signposting as required.

Whenever there is an unborn child, practitioners should refer to the Multi-agency Protocol for Pre-Birth Assessments and Interventions Pre-birth Protocol to help their decision making and assessment processes when working with the pregnant woman, her partner and family. If required, early help, targeted or child protection processes should occur in a timely manner once a pregnancy is known.

Where there is a concealed pregnancy professionals should explore with parents the reasons for concealing the pregnancy, including the impact of domestic abuse, and consider the significance of those and the associated vulnerabilities. See Concealed and Denied Pregnancy Guidance.

If a practitioner wishes to speak to a qualified Social Worker for advice, especially if they are uncertain whether the threshold is met for children's social care involvement, they should contact the relevant local authority children's social care in their area.

See Local Contacts.

In all cases a record should be made of the concerns, discussions, decisions and reasons for decisions. These should be kept under review and if things do not improve or deteriorate the situation should be reconsidered.

If the child is at immediate risk of harm the practitioner must contact the Police on 999.

If needs are believed to be complex/ serious requiring targeted interventions or where there are child protection concerns, a referral must be made to children's social care.

See Making a Referral to Social Care Procedure.

Any social care response to referrals should be discreet, ensuring that contact is made with the adult experiencing domestic abuse in ways which will not further endanger them or their children.

On receipt of a referral, children's social care should identify whether a Strategy Discussion/Meeting must take place between social care, the police, health and other agencies to share the information and determine whether the threshold for a Section 47 Enquiry has been reached.

See Child Protection Section 47 Enquiries procedure.

It is essential that all key agencies attend this meeting – this must include children's social care, the police, health, education representatives for nursery/school/college age children, providers of support services which may include domestic abuse organisations and if they are involved Probation Services.

All agencies attending the Strategy Meeting should bring any relevant information that they hold (in writing, if possible), outlining their concerns and their assessment of the risk presented to the child. There should be specific clarity about any sensitive information that may place the children or parent at risk of Significant Harm and any restrictions to whom it may be shared.

Circumstances in which a strategy discussion or meeting may be undertaken include where:

• The police PPN or a Safelives DASH Risk Identification Checklist (RIC) (see Documents Library, Assessment Tools) indicated high risk;
• A child has experienced Significant Harm during any domestic abuse incident (even if unintentionally injured);
• Informal agreements have broken down, placing the children at increased likelihood of suffering Significant Harm;
• The adults are unable to accept the serious impact the violence or abuse has on the child;
• A child has witnessed another person being seriously injured;
• There has been an escalation in frequency and/or severity of incidents;
• The abuse involved sexual assault or attempted strangulation or the use of weapons or threats to kill;
• Contact arrangements exist, or are planned, and there is a risk of significant harm; or
• Where a child is known to be involved in a violent relationship.

The Police are required to determine whether any court orders or injunctions are in force, these could include Domestic Violence Protection Orders or Stalking Protection Orders.

The purpose of the strategy discussion / meeting is to determine the child's welfare and plan rapid future action if there is reasonable cause to suspect the child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, Significant Harm. Where a child is experiencing domestic abuse the strategy discussion/meeting will also:

• Consider the assessment of the safety needs of the child and non-abusing adult as inter related;
• Take into account that the role of the Police will be to focus the criminal process on the perpetrator of the domestic abuse within the family;
• Agree on requirements for further information and assessment, including medical examination/treatment;
• Consider how the child and non-abusing parent can be provided with strategies to "exit" safely from the circumstances where they are experiencing domestic abuse;
• Consider which other agencies should provide services to meet the needs of the child and non-abusing adult (for example risk of homelessness);
• Consider the particular vulnerability of the non-abusing parent (for example a woman with no recourse to public funds i.e. who may have had her bank account frozen or may be seeking asylum) and the impact this may have on the welfare of the child; and
• Careful consideration should be given to the purpose and method of contacting the family, particularly in relation to the wording of any letters sent out. (This would need to take account of the level of power and control the abusive partner has over the non-abusive partner).

The impact of domestic abuse on the welfare of a child and non-abusing parent may be very complex. Assessments, plans and support should ensure that the impact on the non-abusing parent is fully understood, particularly in considering their ability to keep themselves and their child/ren safe.

Strategies to challenge, hold perpetrators to account for their behaviour and offers to support changes in their behaviour should also be considered.

The Police and other agencies have defined powers in criminal and civil law which can be used to help those who are subject to domestic abuse. See Section 10. Protection and Prevention and Managing Individuals who Pose a Risk of Harm to Children Procedure.

Abusive partners should be interviewed by children's social care where an assessment is being undertaken, although the timing of this must not place the child or their non abusive parent/carer or practitioner at risk of serious harm. Specific advice and support should be sought from the police or other agencies to ensure that all appropriate information is obtained.

There may be situations where the child will be at continuing risk of significant harm and it becomes necessary to take the matter to an Initial Child Protection Conference or consider legal intervention. See Child Protection Conferences Procedure.

In some situations where the child cannot be kept safe, consideration will need to be given to removing the child by way of consent or court order. Where there is evidence of significant harm to the child/ren further assessment tools, i.e. Domestic Violence Risk Assessment Model (DVRAM), should be used to inform the assessment; this should be completed during the first review period if subject to a child protection plan or as part of a PLO or any application to the court.

All agencies have a responsibility to complete a Safe Lives DASH (Domestic Abuse, Stalking and harassment and Honour based violence) risk assessment checklist and where appropriate refer into the MARAC process, along with a referral to an Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA).

The conference would consider what measures have been put in place, and what measures are required to protect the safety of the adult and their children.

MARAC processes may identify children experiencing domestic abuse who require an early help assessment or social care referral.

For more information about MARAC in Derby and Derbyshire see the Safer Derbyshire Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference website.

Safety planning for adults and children experiencing domestic abuse is an important element to safeguard children and the non-abusing parent from harm. All assessments should include a judgement on existing safety planning and recommend any alteration. Strengthening a plan can help the adult and child experiencing domestic abuse take control, increase their options and ensure a greater degree of safety than previously experienced.

A Safety Plan should only be developed by a practitioner with suitable professional knowledge and skills. There may be serious risks to the lives of the adult and child and practitioners must seek specialist advice if they are any doubt e.g. Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA).

All practitioners should be mindful of their responsibilities for the safety of themselves, colleagues within their own agency and other organisations. If a judgement is made at any stage of intervention that identifies a risk of serious harm to a practitioner from an abusive adult, appropriate advice must be sought within their own organisation. Additionally, if a Safety Plan is established for practitioners in respect of the risk from a service user, explicit advice must be obtained to clarify under what circumstances this information would be shared with other agencies that may be unaware of the risk.

Perpetrators may manipulate victims and/or those around them including practitioners to hide or normalise abusive behaviours. They may seek to minimise allegations, normalise the behaviour and discredit reports of abuse. It is important that all practitioners hold perpetrators to account for their behaviour and ensure that the safety of the child and adult experiencing domestic abuse are central to at all times when making any decisions. The potential for perpetrator behaviour change in must be considered as part of any assessment. 

Repeat call outs and offending will be taken into account in any action by the Police.

The Probation Service will hold important information in relation to a perpetrator and there is a focus on risk assessment, risk management and intervention, whether as a single agency or through multi-agency groups such Safeguarding, Multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA), Multi-agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) or Integrated Offender Management (IOM).

Some perpetrators are sentenced via the courts to attend perpetrator programmes.

The Probation Service also manage the Victim Contact Scheme. Where an offender of serious sexual and or violent offences receives a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, victims, parents/carers and, where an offence has resulted in the death of the victim, next of kin, can opt in to the Victim Contact Scheme and be allocated a Victim Liaison Officer.

Where the length of sentence is less than 12 months, there is a non-statutory Victim Notification System.

Interventions should be offered at an early stage when a perpetrator may be most motivated to change their behaviour. Even where a perpetrator leaves a family or is excluded this remains important given the likelihood of either their return, continued contact with or their future involvement in a new household is very high.

The Home Office have developed a set of overarching principles and practice guidelines for commissioning and delivering interventions for perpetrators of domestic abuse.

(Trix please link ‘Standards for domestic abuse perpetrator interventions.’) ‘Standards for domestic abuse perpetrator interventions.’

Stalking Protection Orders

Stalking can often be seen as a feature of domestic abuse and is a criminal offence. Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs), which are civil orders designed to protect victims at the earliest opportunity, can be sought either before or during an investigation for a stalking offence for which a prosecution may be brought at a later stage. See Stalking Protection Orders: Statutory Guidance for the Police.

Domestic Violence Protection Orders

Domestic Violence Protection Notices (DVPNs) and Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs). A DVPN is an emergency non-molestation and eviction notice which can be issued by the police, when attending to a domestic abuse incident, to a perpetrator. Because the DVPN is a police-issued notice, it is effective from the time of issue, thereby giving the victim the immediate support they require in such a situation.

Within 48 hours of the DVPN being served on the perpetrator, an application by police to a magistrates’ court for a DVPO must be heard. A DVPO can prevent the perpetrator from returning to a residence and from having contact with the victim for up to 28 days. This allows the victim a degree of breathing space to consider their options with the help of a support agency. Both the DVPN and DVPO contain a condition prohibiting the perpetrator from molesting the victim.

See Domestic Violence Protection Notices (DVPNs) and Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) guidance.

NOTE: Domestic Abuse Protection Orders and Domestic Abuse Protection Notices are currently being piloted and will replace Domestic Violence Protection Orders (Domestic Abuse Act 2021).

Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme ('Clare's Law')

The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) Guidance (also known as 'Clare's Law') sets out a formal mechanism for the “Right to Ask” and the “Right to Know”.

Under the scheme an individual or relevant third party (for example, a family member) can ask the police to check whether a current or ex-partner has a violent or abusive past. This is the “Right to Ask”. If records show that an individual may be at risk of domestic abuse from a partner or ex-partner, the police will consider disclosing the information.

The “Right to Know” enables the police to make a disclosure on their own initiative if they receive information about the violent or abusive behaviour of a person that may impact on the safety of that person’s current or ex-partner. This could be information arising from a criminal investigation, through statutory or third sector agency involvement, or from another source of police intelligence.

Prohibited steps order

A prohibited steps order which can restrict a parent from exercising specific aspects of their parental responsibility where there’s concerns of this being misused. It can cover a wide range of issues, including, but not limited to restrictions on changing a child's school or nursery or not being allowed to take a child out of the UK, change a child's name or authorise specific medical treatment for a child.