What to do if you suspect or are told about domestic abuse

If you suspect that someone may be experiencing domestic abuse, don’t ignore your suspicions. It is important to try to find out the help they would like and explain the help available. On average a survivor will experience 50 incidents of abuse and a high-risk survivor will experience abuse for 2.3 years before getting effective help.  Feedback from survivors has shown they wished somebody had asked them about their situation or raised the subject with them earlier. Identifying concerns and asking people about abuse is a keyway that we can intervene earlier.

 

When to ask about domestic abuse:

Before asking someone about domestic abuse, it is important that you follow these steps to make sure that it is a safe time for them to speak:

1. Check whether there are any safe contact measures in place, i.e., whether it is safe for you to call, text, email, or write to them.
2. Check if anyone from Camden Safety Net is working with survivor, you can do this by contacting the duty team: 020 7974 2526, or [email protected]
3. Always use a professional interpreter and never rely on family or friends to do this. You can book an interpreter via the Staff Interpreting Network or Language Line.
4. Ask the survivor if it is safe for them to speak and never ask about domestic abuse with someone else present.

 

How to ask about domestic abuse:

Domestic abuse is traumatic and recounting their experience can be very frightening for survivors. The survivor may not identify themself as someone experiencing abuse and may not want to disclose all the details of their experience. Feeling believed, supported and heard enable disclosure and that, even if a survivor later declines or disengages from support, knowledge of the support that is available is a strengthening factor.

You should adopt an empathic and reassuring approach, asking open-ended questions to initiate the topic and use sensitive, validating follow-up questions and statements such as:

• How are things going at home? Is there anything that makes you feel unsafe at home or work?
• Tell me about your family: what is your relationship like?
• Do you feel safe in your relationship?
• You said that your partner loomed over you: that sounds really frightening. As a council, we believe that everyone should feel safe in their homes.

It can also be helpful to providing context: referencing that abuse is highly prevalent and effects a lot of people, i.e:

• ‘’We've seen an increase in reports of domestic abuse and we're asking people about this because we know people can be afraid to come forward.’’
• ’We're very mindful that [money issues / overcrowding etc] can cause stresses in the home and we like to ask all our tenants about this as a part of making sure people are ok?’’

It can also be helpful to directly address concerns with the survivor, whilst recognising the significant barriers to disclosure for the survivor, i.e:

• "We’ve received reports that your husband was heard shouting at you. I wanted to meet with you and see if there’s anything that we can do as I know how difficult it can be to access support’’.

Remember, that acknowledging the strengths of the survivor can go a long way to help build trust and confidence, i.e:

• ‘’You mentioned that you sent your children to bed so that they wouldn’t hear him shouting. It sounds like you are doing a lot to try and protect your children.’’

Be mindful of the role that trauma can play in how someone understands their experiences and how they behave. When a person has had a traumatic experience they might withdraw, become uneasy or suspicious, minimise their experiences, or become frustrated. These signs do not necessarily indicate that the survivor is not telling the truth or is angry and uncooperative, they are equally, if not more, likely to be signs of acute trauma and fear that support can be provided.

 

During first contact, we’ll establish the following:

Confirm with the survivor if it is safe to speak and if they are in a private location. If it is not safe for the survivor to speak, we will:

• Safeguard: If they’re in immediate danger or if there is an imminent threat to another person, we will ask the survivor to call the police, or with the survivor's consent call the police on their behalf.
• Organise an alternative time and method to speak with the survivor, e.g. in-person, at the office.
• Alert the professional network of the attempted contact and record details on the case management system.

If it is safe for the survivor to speak, we will:

1. Reassure the survivor that their safety is our priority and we will handle their case confidentially.
2. Enquire into whether the survivor has disclosed this information to another professional that they’d like us to speak with to avoid repeating traumatic information.
3. Prioritise immediate safety needs:   
   -  Identify if immediate security measures are needed in the home or if temporary accommodation is required that night.
   -  Check if there is any urgent safeguarding needed, i.e. the police need to be contacted.
4. Complete the domestic abuse assessment form to capture the core risk, safety and housing information.  If this has been completed by another Camden professional request this form from them.  
5. Refer to Camden Safety Net: 
   -  Explain the support the specialist domestic abuse support that Camden Safety Net can provide and seek consent to refer the survivor. Verbal consent is sufficient. 
   -  Identify whether the survivor is working with any support agencies and if the police are involved. If so, take the contact information and update this on the case management system.
6. Complete a DASH risk assessment:
   -  If the survivor has rejected a Camden Safety Net and is not working with a domestic abuse team you should complete a DASH risk assessment to better understand the risk and actions needed.  Do not complete until you have completed the training.
   -  If working with CSN or a domestic abuse team, they will lead on this.
7. Provide the domestic abuse toolkit:     -  Offer the survivor a copy of the domestic abuse toolkit that outlines the process and their rights.
8. Agree next steps:   
   -  Explain the support that will be provided and agree a contact schedule with the survivor. Where engagement with another service has been agreed, the NHO should lead on this and not reply on the survivor to self-refer to other services.

All cases of domestic abuse must be logged on the Landlord Works Portal (LWP) as either presenting or contextual demand Health & Family – Domestic Violence. Updates should be made to the case notes with any new activity.

Check LWP, TRIM, Northgate and HNG Casework system, and liaise with other services, if you need to, to check the background. Has DVA been reported before?