Charities say the Domestic Abuse Bill needs to recognise the impact on children after record number of helpline calls in May.
Since lockdown began, 1,500 adults have told the NSPCC’s helpline about their fears for children trapped in their homes. Some 58% led to referrals or a referral update to the local authority.
He admitted he doesn’t know how he would have survived the current situation being locked down with his parents and he can empathise with the ordeal faced by children trapped in similar situations. “It started seriously when I was about six, but there were things that went on before that,” he said. “Like a caged animal, I didn’t know any different – what it was like to be outside that cage. I didn’t know what real life was.”
“I suffered years of physical and mental abuse,” Tom told HuffPost UK. “My father predominantly carried out the physical abuse while my mother was the instigator of the mental abuse and made out everything I did was a bad thing so my father would physically abuse me.Tom also faced the fear of a vicar, a friend of his parents, visiting the home as he touched him inappropriately for more than four years.
I used to dread the school bell ringing signalling the end of the school day as it meant I had to go home.“The only break you ever get from it is when you go out to do something – which for me was going to school. Many people are worried about the risk of children being exposed to coronavirus by returning to school – but Tom says these fears need to be balanced against the harm some children may be being subjected to in their homes.
One mother who called the NSPCC helpline described how her former partner had taken her baby son away and she didn’t know what to do. Even when children aren’t always the ones to suffer physical harm, they have told Childline they feel trapped. In some cases, it has led to depression, suicidal thoughts and self harm.
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