What we have found from our research is there is a link between domestic violence and child abuse. Among victims of child abuse, 40 per cent report domestic violence in the home.

Although it is known that being exposed to violence and abuse in the home is a very real and crushing experience for many children in the UK and around the world, not much is currently known  about how big the problem is.

Answers are difficult to find on even the most basic areas of the situation, such as:

• How many children are actually affected in the UK and around the world?

• What can be done to make a real difference and lasting change?

These are the questions that we are working hard to answer, to protect our children and their children to come. One of the areas of this very large scale problems  that we believe we can try to address is preventing the generational cycle of impact of domestic abuse.  Children who witness domestic violence or are victims of abuse themselves are at serious risk for long-term physical and mental health problems. The damaging effects of being exposed domestic violence and abuse on children can create a long cycle of inter-generational repercussions, sometimes leading to the repeat of abusive behaviours.

Unicef in their report on the effects of domestic violence on children, Behind Closed Doors, have stated that, “The single best predictor of children becoming either perpetrators or victims of domestic violence later in life is whether or not they grow up in a home where there is domestic violence. Studies from various countries support the findings that rates of abuse are higher among women whose husbands were abused as children or who saw their mothers being abused.”

Our aim is to do this through education and ongoing support which currently is through giving children and their family a new home to move into, our educational and recovery resources Nested Together, and our support services which offer teenage confidence classes, and our Christmas program which provides hundreds of Christmas gifts to children in refuges across the UK every year.

We aim to reposition children who have been impacted by domestic abuse as survivors in their own right with their own narrative and voice. As we continue to grow as a charity, these children are always on the forefront of how we plan, design and implement programs and initiatives.

To find out more about our approach to prevent domestic abuse and support survivors, take a look at our story and our three pronged approach to ending the cycle here.