Living in a home where domestic abuse happens can have a serious impact on a child or young person’s mental and physical wellbeing, as well as their behaviour. This can manifest in the following ways and last into adulthood:

• Anxiety and depression
• Difficulty sleeping.
• Nightmares and flashbacks
• Feeling unwell e.g. tummy aches.
• Become aggressive.
• Lowered sense of self-worth.
• May begin to truant from school.
• Start to use alcohol or drugs. Begin to self-harm.
• Develop an eating disorder.

Children may also feel angry, guilty, insecure, alone, frightened, powerless or confused. They may have ambivalent feelings towards both the abuser and the non-abusing parent. Being witness to domestic abuse is a form of child abuse. 

The following websites may be helpful:

Operation Encompass

Maltby Academy has also signed up to Operation Encompass.   This is a Police and Education early information sharing partnership which enables schools to offer immediate support for children and young people witnessing domestic abuse. Information is shared by the police with the Academy’s safeguarding team prior to the start of the school day following an incident of domestic abuse in the previous 24 hours or over the weekend which has been attended by police officers. This information enables appropriate support to be given, dependent upon the needs and wishes of the child.  Children experiencing domestic abuse are negatively impacted by this exposure; domestic abuse has been identified as an Adverse Childhood Experience and can lead to emotional, physical and psychological harm. Operation Encompass aims to mitigate this harm by enabling schools to maintain a watchful brief, intervene with support if needed, and help to make the day a better one for children.  Right click on the logo above for more information.