Domestic abuse becoming 'more complex', says Hampshire charity

A charity said children have a range of complex mental health and wellbeing issues caused by pandemic isolation

Cases of domestic abuse are becoming "more complex" following the Covid pandemic, a charity has said.

Stop Domestic Abuse, which supports victims of abuse in Hampshire, said it was also seeing an increase in cases, with more involving children.

Police said the risk increased during lockdown because "everything was happening behind closed doors".

More than £550,000 of funding has been pledged to provide additional support to survivors.

Ch Insp Fifi Gulam-Husen, district commander of Fareham and Gosport district, said: "Through the Covid-19 pandemic, we identified an even greater risk because during the lockdowns, everything was happening in private, behind closed doors.

"It's something that I believe needs a lot more of our time and attention."

Stop Domestic Abuse, a Havant-based charity, told that Local Democracy Reporting Service that it had noted a rise in cases of domestic abuse targeted at both women and children.

Chief executive officer Claire Lambon said: "Cases are more complex than ever before.

"Our children and young people's teams are dealing with a spike in referrals as children return to the classroom and become visible to services after months of isolation and harm within the abusive household."

The charity added that children have a range of complex mental health and wellbeing issues caused by pandemic isolation and the severity of domestic abuse witnessed during successive lockdowns and school closures. 

Hampshire's Police and Crime Commissoner (PCC) Donna Jones has secured £557,710 of funding to support survivors of domestic and sexual abuse up to 2025.

The funding will pay for six independent domestic abuse advocates and an independent sexual violence advisor.