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Supporting survivors of domestic abuse
2.1 Introduction
Welcome to this second training module on supporting clients who are survivors of domestic abuse. There are three domestic abuse modules and they are designed to be studied in order, from the first to the third. These modules are:
1. Introducing domestic abuse
2. Supporting survivors of domestic abuse
3. Supporting clients who are accused of perpetrating domestic abuse
Have you completed the first domestic abuse module, Introducing domestic abuse?
If you have not yet studied the first domestic abuse module, please do this before studying this second module. Go to Introducing domestic abuse.
Approximately 1 in 10 cases you deal with will feature domestic abuse. You will come across people who have experienced domestic abuse, perpetrators of abuse and those who have been accused of causing abuse. For some people, their experiences may make it more difficult for them to be involved with the court system, particularly where their case involves the alleged perpetrator of abuse. These training modules will assist you in feeling more confident in supporting clients in these situations.
Support Through Court do not want or expect volunteers to ‘diagnose’ domestic abuse or to become overly involved with clients. A three-step process for supporting clients where domestic abuse is a feature of the case is described later in this module.
Please note
This module deals with some sensitive issues including descriptions of domestic abuse. These training modules are not compulsory, but they are recommended. If you do not feel comfortable to start the module, or if you are affected by the material, or feel you are unable to undergo the training, then Support Through Court can help you. Please speak to your Service Manager when you are next in the office.
If you need immediate support over the phone you can call:
National Domestic Violence Helpline – 0808 200 247
Learning outcomes
This second training module will help you to support clients who are survivors of domestic abuse.
In this module you will learn about:
- How understanding domestic abuse helps you to better support domestic abuse survivors
- How to help a client who is experiencing or has experienced domestic abuse
- How to help clients evidence domestic abuse.
This module is one of a number of training modules to help Support Through Court volunteers when supporting clients. The modules all use the same case study to explore the different aspects of supporting clients effectively. We will be referring to this example as we work though this module, so it may be helpful to remind yourself of the facts now. You may want to open this case study in a separate window (use Ctrl + click on the link) so you can refer back to it when needed. Find out more about the fictitious Johnson/Smith family and their situation.
During the module you may come across terminology which is unfamiliar to you. Some words are hyperlinked to the Glossary, so by hovering over the word you will be able to see its definition.
Statistics around domestic abuse show that women are more likely to be victims of abuse than men. For this reason, during the module we will be using ‘she’ to denote the survivor of domestic abuse and ‘he’ to denote the perpetrator, as this is the scenario you are more likely to come across in your volunteering.
However domestic abuse can involve men as survivors and women as perpetrators, as well as abuse within same sex relationships. Support Through Court supports all clients regardless of their circumstances and so you may come across different forms of relationships in your volunteering. This training will assist you to support clients whatever their gender or sexual orientation and regardless if they are alleged to have abused or are making allegations.
Domestic abuse used to be called Domestic Violence and some people still refer to it like that. However, because physical violence is only one form of domestic abuse, these days the broader term Domestic Abuse is preferred.
Whilst thinking about terminology we use the term ‘survivor’ in preference to ‘victim’ as ‘survivor’ implies an active, creative, resourceful response (Women’s Aid, 2020). However, both terms can be used interchangeably, depending on the context.
Give your opinion
How would you rate your understanding of supporting survivors of domestic abuse right now, before you start this module? Submit your answer.
2.2 What is domestic abuse?
Activity 1
In the first training module you looked at what domestic abuse is. Thinking about all you have learnt so far and your previous experience, what do you think domestic abuse is?
Comment
Having considered the definition of domestic abuse in the first training module, we expect most of you would be able to give a good definition of domestic abuse. You may recall that there are two elements to domestic abuse; an intimate or family relationship and abusive behaviours. This may include psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional abuse. You may also have considered the fact that this behaviour may be one off or a pattern of behaviour.
You may also have thought about coercive and controlling behaviour, which was introduced in the first training module. This is behaviour where the perpetrator isolates and controls the survivor or behaves in a way to punish or intimidate the survivor.
We are now going to look at our case study, the Johnson/Smith family. Remind yourself of the family and their situation.
In our case study, Jazmin Johnson has left her former partner Steve Smith and found emergency accommodation for herself and her two children. A member of staff from the refuge has suggested she should apply for a
Activity 2
Would you consider Jazmin to have experienced domestic abuse and why (or why not)?
Comment
Jazmin has experienced domestic abuse from Steve. They were in an intimate relationship for five years. She has experienced abusive behaviour including physical violence (when he punched her in the face), financial abuse (controlling the money and not giving her sufficient money for food and care of her children) and emotional abuse (isolating her from her friends, being angry when she did not do as he wants).
In the first domestic abuse module, we considered one specific form of domestic abuse – coercive control. Here is a reminder of the definitions of coercive and controlling behaviour provided in the first training module:
Controlling behaviour
Controlling behaviour is a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour.
Coercive behaviour
Coercive behaviour is an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim
Coercive and controlling behaviour is due to a power imbalance in the relationship, where the perpetrator is acting to ensure he has all the power and control in the relationship. If you were to speak to an abusive partner they would probably not describe the aim of their behaviours as seeking power and control over their partner. They are more likely to talk about aspects of their partner or their behaviour that they dislike or would like to change. Nevertheless the root lies in a quest for power and control.
Activity 3
What types of behaviour are typically associated with coercive and controlling behaviour?
Comment
You may recall from the first domestic abuse module that we looked at a diagram which illustrates the types of behaviour that perpetrators use to gain power and control over their partner. This diagram is called the Duluth Power and Control Wheel.
Hover over each segment of the wheel below to display the full definitions.
The tactics described above usually are used together. If one doesn’t work, the perpetrator may use a different one or more than one. It is systematic and is done by choice with the intention of controlling the survivor and preventing their freedom of choice and action.
Understanding the different forms domestic abuse can take, the importance of power and control in coercive control and the different tactics perpetrators can use will help you understand and support domestic abuse survivors better. We will look at ways you can support clients who have experienced domestic abuse in more detail below.
Activity 4
Please answer the following multiple choice questions. There is one correct answer for each question.
a.
True
b.
False
The correct answer is a.
Answer
The correct answer is True. Although we have focused on intimate relationships between partners, abusive behaviours within familial relationships can also be domestic abuse.
a.
True
b.
False
The correct answer is a.
Answer
The correct answer is True. Whilst each of the suggested acts may be in isolation a loving or supportive act, in the context of a pattern of behaviour they can be evidence of controlling behaviour which seeks to isolate the survivor and take away her ability to make independent choices.
a.
True
b.
False
The correct answer is b.
Answer
The correct answer is False. Whilst some perpetrators may have vulnerabilities such as substance misuse or anger management issues, these do not cause coercive or controlling behaviour. The perpetrator is making a decision to act in this way to exert power and control in the relationship.
a.
True
b.
False
The correct answer is b.
Answer
The correct answer is False. Whilst violent acts could be evidence of controlling behaviour, sometimes coercive and controlling relationships do not involve any actual violence. A more reliable method of identifying coercive and controlling behaviour is to consider the client’s human rights and whether her ability to make her own choices in her personal, social, economic and political life is being limited by the perpetrator’s actions.
a.
True
b.
False
The correct answer is a.
Answer
The correct answer is True. We have used ‘he’ to refer to the perpetrator and ‘she’ to refer to the survivor of domestic abuse, as this is the scenario you will most commonly come across in your volunteering. However it is important to remember that men can also be survivors of domestic abuse including coercive and controlling behaviours. This may be in a heterosexual or same sex relationships. Support Through Court supports all individuals who come into their office and you should be considering whether domestic abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour may be involved for any clients you support, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.
2.3 How to help a client who is experiencing or has experienced domestic abuse
In this section we will look at a simple to follow process that you can apply to your work with clients who are survivors of domestic abuse. There is a three stage process for supporting a client who has experienced domestic abuse.
Check for legal aid eligibility
Whilst legal aid is not available for most civil and family cases, domestic abuse is one element of the legal aid criteria that means the client could be eligible for legal aid. One of the most important things you could do is to help the client get professional help. Generally, if they are a survivor of domestic abuse in receipt of benefits or on a low income then it is worth doing this as soon as you realise.
Obtaining legal aid is not a straightforward process and some clients who are in distress or experiencing trauma may avoid contacting solicitors as it feels too much for them. Support Through Court volunteers can help by explaining the process and by signposting to agencies who can carry out a legal aid assessment. It is important that volunteers do not ignore the option of legal aid as it will undoubtedly benefit the client in the longer term.
Activity 5
Imagine you are supporting a client who is very anxious. They are on a very low income and there is evidence of domestic abuse in their case. They have been told by a domestic abuse support agency that they should go to court to get a
You suggest the client tries to
Comment
Solicitors can give legal advice and represent the client in court. They can complete the application and statement and advise the client how to put their case in the most persuasive way. Legal aid can pay for any additional costs, for example drug and alcohol tests or the costs in obtaining police reports. Solicitors can arrange for service of orders and act as a point of contact for the other party.
Support Through Court can help if there is no other option, but as good as it is, our help is usually no substitute for professional legal representation. Notwithstanding this, clients have a choice as to whether they want to use a solicitor and volunteers should be sensitive and respect his.
Did you know?
You can check legal aid eligibility by using the government’s legal aid online checker,
Help with the immediate issue
If the client may be eligible for legal aid, resist the temptation to help them with the paperwork unless it is essential and until you have established what the client wishes to do with regard to a legal aid application. For example, you may need to assist them with an urgent application where no solicitor is immediately available to assist.
However, it is equally important that you don’t just send the client away. It may be useful to explain the procedures and to explain about special measures. Further information about special measures is at the end of this section.
If the client is not eligible for legal aid (for example, they may be on a medium or high income) you should support the client with the problem they have come in for, such as completing an application form or writing a statement. Whilst doing this it is important to remember our remit and that we should be client focussed and non-judgemental. Be careful not to collude with a client, whether they are a survivor or alleged perpetrator. It is important not to do this because it is unlikely that you will know for certain the full facts of the case. By colluding we go beyond our role and become over involved. This can be harmful to the client or the other party.
Signpost to other organisations
Remember, we can only do so much and can only help within the court building. There are local and national organisations which support domestic abuse survivors. You can give the client information about their local domestic abuse survivor support organisations (e.g. Women’s Aid). Your local council may also have information on their website about organisations which can help. Women’s Aid also maintain an online directory of local services
Activity 6
Thinking about your volunteering, what local organisations could you signpost domestic abuse survivors to and what information leaflets are available in your office to give to clients?
Comment
Your response will depend on your location and the Support Through Court office you volunteer at. If you are not aware of the support services available, ask the other volunteers in your office. Your service manager should be able to tell you what leaflets to give to a client.
Finally, if a domestic abuse survivor is involved with court proceedings involving the alleged perpetrator, they can request the court to provide special measures. This means the court will make special facilities available to help the survivor attend and take part in the court proceedings, such as providing screens in court, separate waiting areas and entrances or video appearances in court. When you deal with a case involving domestic abuse and court proceedings, remember to inform the client about the possibility of special measures. You can find out more in the Special measures module.
Activity 7
Please answer the following multiple choice questions. There is one correct answer for each question.
a.
Two
b.
Three
c.
Four
The correct answer is b.
Answer
The correct answer is three.
These are checking legal aid eligibility, helping with the immediate issue and signposting to other organisations.
a.
In all circumstances if they can evidence domestic abuse
b.
Never, legal aid is not available in family cases
c.
If they can evidence domestic abuse and have a low income or are on benefits
The correct answer is c.
Answer
The correct answer is if they can evidence domestic abuse and have a low income or are on benefits
a.
Special Measures
b.
None, they have to abide by the normal court rules
c.
It is at the discretion of the Support Through Court Service Manager.
The correct answer is a.
Answer
The correct answer is special Measures
2.4 Supporting Jazmin as a domestic abuse survivor
We are going to look again at our case study, the Johnson/Smith family. Remind yourself of the family and their situation.
Activity 8
You are supporting Jazmin who has attended the Support Through Court office for help in completing the application forms for a child arrangements order. You have identified that she is a survivor of domestic abuse including coercive and controlling behaviour.
2.5 How to help clients evidence domestic abuse
Once the client has identified that domestic abuse is a feature of their relationship, the client will often need to bring this to the attention of the court. It may be relevant to the case the client is involved with, particularly if it involves a family case where the perpetrator is the other party. You may also need to support the client to apply for special measures.
The client may need to evidence the domestic abuse when applying for legal aid. Remember that domestic abuse survivors may be eligible to apply for legal aid if they have a low income or are on benefit. In order to apply for legal aid, they will need to evidence the domestic abuse to the legal aid authorities.
You will therefore need to help the client to structure the evidence of the abuse they have suffered so they can apply for legal aid, complete court forms, write witness statements or identify other evidence they can bring before the court. This may be easy, for example where there has been a major assault which has resulted in medical treatment and police involvement. However, for many acts associated with coercive and controlling behaviour, this can be more difficult to evidence.
For example, if a client has sought help over a dispute over child arrangements, the controlling behaviours are more difficult for survivors to describe. This might be because each act in itself can appear fairly trivial, or the client themselves can be unaware of them or struggle to identify them. This is where the Duluth power and control wheel is useful.
Activity 9
For example, where a client describes her former partner arriving early for child contact she might say that he would sit in the car outside the house and look at her. She filmed him and showed the video to the police. They couldn’t see that he was doing anything wrong. She said “To anyone else, it looks like he is sitting there. To me, I knew that look. It meant that I was going to get a beating if I didn’t cooperate with him.”
Which of the behaviours in the power and control wheel above might this correspond to?
Comment
This would be part of intimidation: the ex-partner was using his previous behaviour to try to intimidate the client into doing what he wanted. It was also using the children, as he used the contact with their children to try and continue to exert power and control over her life.
Having identified abusive behaviour or acts, clients may be concerned about how they can evidence what they are alleging. Volunteers can help them by explaining how they might be able to make the court aware of evidence they want to use.
Activity 10
Thinking about your volunteering, please complete the table below. You need to think of types of abusive behaviour you have heard about from clients in your volunteering, or the types of behaviour we have considered so far in these training modules. Then think about how these specific behaviours or acts could be evidenced by the client.
| Behaviour or acts | Evidence |
Discussion
The evidence you identified in your table will depend on the behaviour and acts you included. These will be different for each client.
The types of evidence of domestic abuse that clients may have access to include:
- Copies of emails
- Phone records
- Text messages
- Evidence of abuse over the internet, digital technology and social media platforms
- Evidence of an assault
- Photographs of injuries such as: defensive injuries to forearms, latent upper arm grabs, scalp bruising, clumps of hair missing, medical records
- 999 tapes or transcripts
- CCTV/body worn video footage
- Lifestyle and household including at scene photographic evidence
- Records of interaction with services such as support services (even if parts of those records relate to events which occurred before the new offence came into force, their contents may still, in certain circumstances, be relied on in evidence);
- Witness testimony, for example the family and friends of the survivor may be able to give evidence about the effect and impact of isolation of the survivor from them;
- Local enquiries: neighbours, regular deliveries, postal, milk delivery, window cleaner etc;
- Bank records to show financial control;
- Previous threats made to children or other family members; diary kept by the survivor
- Survivor’s account of what happened to the police,
- Evidence of isolation such as lack of contact between family and friends, survivor withdrawing from activities.
Be careful that in helping clients to identify where they can obtain evidence of their allegations that you are not giving legal advice. For example, where the client describes being punched by their partner it is legitimate to ask “Were the police called? Do you have the log number you could let the court know about?” However, if the client was to tell you they reported the incident to the police, but the police took no action, it would be inappropriate to suggest they leave it out of the statement as it might reflect badly on them.
It is beyond your role to suggest what evidence a client adds or leaves out of their statement. However it is within your role to help them to identify where they might obtain evidence if they wish to use it.
Dealing with, and listening to, this type of evidence can be one of the hardest parts of volunteering. But on the upside, it's great to help people as they try to rebuild their lives. If at any time you are concerned about anything you have read or heard, please ensure that you discuss this with your Service Manager.
2.6 Evidencing domestic abuse in Jazmin’s case
We are now going to look at our case study, the Johnson/Smith family. We are now going to consider how to evidence the domestic abuse Jazmin has experienced. Remind yourself of the family and their situation.
You start to discuss with Jazmin how she could evidence the abusive behaviour she has experienced from Steve. Jazmin’s account of her relationship with Steve is below.
She says:
"At first Steve and I got on really well. He was always very generous and complimentary. After I became pregnant, his behaviour towards me changed. He started to get really jealous of me and my friends. He would behave badly if they came around and eventually they stopped coming over. I was so tired looking after our baby and making sure Steve got what he wanted that I didn’t have time to myself anymore.
Steve started taking the child benefit money and spending it on drink. He would give me what he called ‘housekeeping’, so I could buy food and clothes for our daughter. He would not give me any money for Jaden, my son from a previous relationship. Some days I didn’t have enough money to buy food for myself so I went hungry. He was always checking up on me and he would get really angry when I didn’t do what he wanted. I tried to leave a couple of times but he would always talk me into coming back. He said he loved me and begged me to stay. He would make me think it was my fault, that I’d made him angry.
One day, I was late back from a doctor’s appointment. He went mad at me, saying I was having an affair. He smashed the place up and punched me in the face. I was holding our daughter at the time and Jaden was in the house, hiding in his bedroom. A neighbour called the police and they came and took Steve away. I was scared that when he got home he would do something worse, so whilst he was out of the house I managed to get away and get a room in a women’s refuge.
I have heard that he is trying to find where I am staying and wants to take the children from me. I am really scared."
Activity 11
How could Jazmin evidence the abusive acts and behaviour she alleges?
Comment
Jazmin describes a number of different types of behaviours for which there may be evidence available. First there would be the evidence of Jazmin herself. In relation to the financial abuse, there may be bank statements, card receipts or shopping receipts available. In relation to the isolating behaviour including checking up on her, there may be mobile phone records, texts or WhatsApp messages to evidence this.
She refers to a doctor’s appointment: medical records showing treatment for health problems related to domestic abuse can be used as evidence. For the last incident when she left the family home, there should be police reports and statements available (and possibly medical evidence if she sought medical treatment).
She is currently receiving support from domestic abuse workers linked to the local refuge and a letter from support organisations can be used to support an application for legal aid or court application. Jazmin also says that Steve is trying to find her and making threats to take the children: there may be evidence of this though text messages or voice mail messages.
The focus at this initial stage is to support Jazmin as she identifies the evidence she has which she can use, either for a legal aid application or in court proceedings. There may be behaviours which her friends or family can provide witness evidence of, for example Steve’s jealousy and isolation of her or her previous attempts to leave. Other people may have seen or heard what has happened.
Sometimes clients are worried about involving other people in the proceedings. Others may tell you they want these people to give supporting evidence. At the initial stage of proceedings our focus should be on the client and the evidence they have at the moment within their control. We can explain that the client can ask the judge later if they can include evidence from other witnesses to support their case.
2.7 Your volunteering and supporting domestic abuse survivors
Activity 12
Thinking about what you have learnt about supporting domestic abuse survivors, please complete the following questions:
Give your opinion
How would you rate your understanding of supporting survivors of domestic abuse after completing this module? Submit your answer .
2.8 Conclusion
This module has helped you to understand how to best support of survivors of domestic abuse in your volunteering with Support Through Court.
In this module you have learned about:
- How understanding domestic abuse helps you to better support domestic abuse survivors
- How to help a client who is experiencing or has experienced domestic abuse
- How to help clients evidence domestic abuse.
There are three domestic abuse modules, which are designed to be studied in order. As you have completed this second module, you can now study the third module ‘Supporting clients you are accused of perpetrating domestic abuse’.
The third module is:
Support Through Court have a suite of training modules which you can complete so please do take a look at the other modules available. You can study these in any order. They include:
- Special measures
- Working with Cafcass
- Interviewing clients
- Writing statements
- Signposting clients to other organisations
- Working with vulnerable people
Give your opinion
Well done, you have completed this module.
How much will it help you with supporting survivors of domestic abuse in your volunteering? Submit your answer.
References
Acknowledgements
Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources:
Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders. If any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity.
Important: *** against any of the acknowledgements below means that the wording has been dictated by the rights holder/publisher, and cannot be changed.
266485: 2.1 Support through court logo: Support through court
268978: 2.2 domestic violence figure: Adapted from National Domestic Violence Hotline
271083: 2.2 Duluth power and control wheel interactive: 'Duluth wheel of power and control’, Domestic Abuse Intervention Program (DAIP), https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wheels/
266470: 2.4 Jazmin: tommaso79 / iStock / Getty Images Plus
269052: 2.5 Pile of books: Pikrepo, Image released under CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
269055: 2.5 Duluth power and control wheel: 'Duluth wheel of power and control’, Domestic Abuse Intervention Program (DAIP), https://www.theduluthmodel.org/wheels/