The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

FOREWORD

Domestic abuse is a blight on the lives of many thousands of Scotland's women, children and young people. Its effects can be seen in children's reaction to the violence and emotional abuse they witness and to which they may be subject. Significantly it impacts upon their emotional and mental health, which in turn may have a continuing effect throughout childhood and into adulthood, potentially affecting the most important relationship of all, that between a parent and a child.

If we are to give our children the best start in life and enable them to be the individuals they have a right to be we must combine our resources and look to all agencies to work together towards early identification of domestic abuse, effective intervention and support, and the reduction of new and repeat offences. We believe that we can significantly reduce both the impact and the incidents of domestic abuse over time.

This Delivery Plan signals our commitment to get it right for children and young people affected by domestic abuse, their families and communities. It details thirteen Priorities for Action under the key themes of protection, provision, primary prevention through education, and participation. In taking this work forward, we are adopting a holistic approach to addressing domestic abuse, recognising that measures to improve outcomes for children and young people include achieving better outcomes for all involved. This means addressing the needs of the non-abusing parent, which will most often be the mother, and dealing effectively with the perpetrator.

We would like to thank the members of the National Domestic Abuse Delivery Group who have helped shape this document. In particular we are enormously grateful to the remarkable children and young people who have drawn from their experience of domestic abuse to provide us with direction on what needs to change.

Our agenda is an ambitious one and we have allocated £10 million over the next three years to support the delivery of this Plan. We look forward to the continued involvement and commitment of all key partners and the ongoing participation of our children and young people, whose current and increasing contribution to this agenda is critical to our success.

« Previous | Contents | Next »