i-DocServe ltd

This is Abuse

At i-docServe ltd, we process thousands of court orders a year. Throughout those orders, there is a great deal of diversity as to who both the applicants and the victims are. Something we are increasingly seeing is younger people in domestically violent relationships. Whilst there is a substantial field of research in the UK about adult domestic violence, we seem to know very little about the experiences of teenagers in violent intimate relationships.

The small amount of research that has been undertaken in the UK highlights the impact and seriousness on young people’s welfare. Not only are they experiencing violence within an intimate relationship, they are doing so within the critical developmental period of adolescence.

Recently the Home Office issued a campaign targeting this exact issue, titled ‘This is Abuse’. The campaign aimed to inform teenagers about what exactly domestic abuse and sexual abuse are and how you might identify them in your own relationship. It was aimed at both potential victims of abuse and potential perpetrators. The £2million TV, radio, internet and poster campaign aimed to change attitudes in order to stop abuse.

The campaign followed a study by the NSPCC into the prevalence of domestic violence in teenage relationships. It was found that a quarter of girls between 13 and 17 years old had experienced physical violence from a boyfriend, aswell as a third being pressured into sexual acts they did not want.

The statistics are alarming and the NSPCC also noted that there is a high number of young people who view abuse in relationships as normal.

Throughout NSPCC’S research, it was found that 40% of females and 60% of males who have experienced abuse in teenage relationships do not tell anyone. The aim of the campaign therefore, has become to encourage teenagers to come together to tackle the problem.

Find more information about the Home Office ‘This is Abuse’ campaign here and share your views about whether campaigns like this have an effect on issues such as domestic violence.