Charity says bereaved children and carers forgotten in new strategy to tackle violence against women
Children and carers who have lost loved ones to domestic homicide have been “left invisible” in the new government strategy (Vawg) to tackle violence against women and girls, a charity has claimed.
This week, Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips launched a £1 billion-backed strategy looking at ways to prevent violence, crack down on abusers and support victims.
But families of domestic homicide victims have described the lack of a clear plan to support children and caregivers left behind due to trauma as “heartbreaking”.
Diana Parkes was founded Joanna Simpson Foundation In memory of her daughter, who was brutally murdered by her estranged husband in 2010, near her two young children, at the age of 46. He said it was “unacceptable” that the government’s strategy “failed to recognize them in any meaningful way”.
“After losing my daughter to domestic homicide, I know exactly how devastating the impact such brutal acts have on the children and caregivers they leave behind,” she said.
“Families living with the consequences of domestic homicide cannot be treated as an afterthought. They should not be left invisible in the national strategy.”
As part of the plan, new laws will ban AI “nudification” tools that turn images of real people into fake nude images and videos without their consent.
There will also be specialist rape and sexual offenses investigators assigned to every police force, better support for survivors on the NHS and a £19 million funding boost for councils to provide safe accommodation for victims of domestic violence.
But the government was condemned by the charity for not setting out how the strategy would implement Jade’s Law, under which parental responsibility is automatically suspended if an offender kills a partner or ex-partner with whom they have a child.
Roann Court, daughter of Claire Marshall, who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, found the strategy “deeply disappointing.”
She said: “After my mother was killed due to domestic violence, neither I nor my family members who were my carers were provided any support.
“This reinforces the message that families like mine are no longer seen when a murder occurs. Unless explicitly included, children and caregivers will continue to fall through the cracks, just like us.”
Grandmother Linda Westcarr, mother of Kennedi Westcarr-Sabaroche, who was killed by her boyfriend, said: “I know the devastating truth behind the headlines. “Nothing can prepare you for the pain, fear or overwhelming responsibility of trying to rebuild a child’s life after this kind of violence.
“As caregivers, we carry not only our own pain but also the child’s trauma, but also the responsibility of keeping them safe, stable and loved.
“It is therefore heartbreaking and extremely frustrating to see the UK government publish this strategy without explaining when the Jade Act will be written into policy and implemented so it can actually be used.
“Families cannot survive on promises alone. The lack of a clear implementation plan sends a painful message that families like mine are being forgotten once again.”
