In the UK, Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA) casts a long shadow over the lives of children and families, affecting more than 25% of children and young people who live with adults who have experienced such harm.
In 2020, domestic abuse featured in 42.6% of serious harm incidents involving children, underscoring its devastating impact. These experiences often resulted in children being placed into care or brought into contact with child protection systems. Despite progress in recent years, a clear need remains for more inclusive, nuanced, and sustainable approaches to addressing these challenges.
The 25 November marks the International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women and is the beginning of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence, an international campaign established in 1991. It will culminate on 10 December, International Human Rights Day, to emphasise that GBV is a human rights issue. Since its inception, the campaign has grown into a global movement involving over 6,000 organisations in approximately 187 countries. Today, the UN reports that globally, every 10 minutes, a woman is killed by a partner or family member.
The 16 days focus on raising awareness of the disproportionate impact of violence against women and girls, including domestic violence and abuse (DVA) to sexual violence. It is a call for urgent action to tackle these issues. This period highlights the need for systemic change in policy and practice, amplifying the voices of victim-survivors and encouraging communities to challenge the societal norms that foster the conditions for the perpetration of GBV.
About Rethinking Domestic Abuse in Child Protection (RDAC)
The RDAC project, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, was a groundbreaking initiative that aimed to address this pressing issue through an innovative, mixed-methods study, which placed practice and lived experience at the centre of the research. It had three aims; (i) to close knowledge gaps around the characteristics of DVA in child protection cases, (ii) to examine how factors such as gender, socioeconomic status, age, and ethnicity shaped experiences and outcomes, and (iii) to coproduce principles that support new approaches in policy and practice.
Running from March 2022 to September 2024, RDAC was a collaborative effort between researchers from the Universities of Sheffield, Huddersfield, and Kingston, and partners from SafeLives, Research in Practice, and Future Men. It was designed to advance our collective understanding, address intersectional inequalities, and co-create actionable solutions for policy and practice.
A significant part of the work of RDAC took place in three local authority case study sites. Researchers analysed existing administrative and socioeconomic data to understand the local responses to domestic abuse and child protection. Fieldwork added depth to these analyses, with researchers speaking to staff, observing meetings, and auditing case files. This process ensured that the project’s findings were both data-driven and empirically grounded.
A Community of Practice (CoP) of around 30 local authorities across England and Scotland, supported the work of the researchers. It provided a unique platform for sharing knowledge, problem-solving, and critically examining emerging findings collaboratively. By drawing on the expertise of practitioners, the CoP ensured that the research remained grounded in real-world challenges and enabled researchers to strengthen data analysis.
Alongside the CoP, were the Family Forums, led by SafeLives, Future Men and Circles Training. These forums gave families with lived experiences a voice in the project, which was crucial for meeting the study's aims. The Forums created an inclusive, more accessible space for families to share their insights and views, ensuring that their lived realities informed the research and its outcomes as far as possible.
Open access events
A cornerstone of the RDAC project was its commitment to engagement and collaborative learning so that the dominant response to domestic abuse in child protection might be reworked. Three open-access events marked the culmination of the study, during which the implications of RDAC’s findings for academia, policy, and practice were explored. An impressive panel of speakers joined us during each event, creating a vibrant space for mutual learning, and enabling cross-sector dialogue.
Events attracted a wide and diverse audience, during which panellists discussed how RDAC’s key messages could potentially reshape research, practice, and policy. A strand that threaded through all events was the importance of amplifying lived experience and addressing intersecting inequalities in the lives of the families we work with. The three webinars enabled the team to share the resources developed from the study, as well as to engage in dialogue regarding what the key messages featured in the resources could mean for different stakeholders.
The feedback and discussions generated during these events have been integrated into the ongoing data analysis, refining findings, and shaping the next steps. This iterative process will strengthen the relevance and impact of RDAC, to create more meaningful and sustainable change.
Looking forward
By fostering dialogue, centring lived experience, and engaging with practitioners, RDAC has created opportunities for new learning and pathways for change. The findings and principles that have emerged from RDAC offer the potential to ‘do differently’ when it comes to DVA and child protection, creating more inclusive, effective, and sustainable approaches that prioritise the intersectional interests and wellbeing of children and families.
As we map out the next steps, Professors Brid Featherstone and Kate Morris have begun a new impact-led project to embed learning by working with practitioners in the Northwest of the country.