Our Response to Domestic Abuse Commissioner Report
April 2025 brought us the publication of Dame Nicole Jacob’s Domestic Abuse Commissioner Report. This blog includes a link to the report and a statement in response, from our CEO and Founder Ellie Brook.
Domestic Abuse Commissioner warns that the government’s commitment to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) is at risk without urgent funding for specialist domestic abuse services.
Over a quarter of domestic abuse services (27%) surveyed in England and Wales are having to turn children away from vital support amid severe funding shortages, new research by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner has revealed.
The findings published in a new report by Dame Nicole Jacobs examining children’s experiences of domestic abuse – exposes how thousands of children are being left with nowhere to turn after being subject to abuse, or facing long wait times for support, as services struggle to stay afloat amid rising demand.*
*Source –
Our Response to Domestic Abuse Commissioner Report, by Ellie Brook, CEO of EdShift CIC:
The message is clear. And it’s long overdue.
Children and young people are not silent witnesses to domestic abuse. They are victims in their own right.
The law changed in 2021 to reflect this — but systems have not.
And this inaction is costing the futures of our children and young people.
We hear it directly from the children we work with:
“You were the first people who really listened to me.”
“I didn’t feel invisible anymore.”
“It helped me feel like I wasn’t broken.”
Despite these powerful testimonies, too many children are being failed. Nationally, 27% of services are turning children away. Half are stuck on waiting lists.
This is not acceptable.
We cannot and will not wait for change to happen from the top down. We’re taking action now.
At EdShift, this report strengthens our mission. We are committed to:
- Embedding the recognition of children as victims into every aspect of our service design and delivery — and challenging partner agencies to do the same whenever we see children recorded as anything other than victims in their own right.
This is not an add-on. It’s fundamental. - Partnering with Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programmes (DAPPS) to ensure the real, lived experiences of child victims are central. We are committed to increasing perpetrators’ motivation to change by confronting them with the true impact of their behaviour not just on partners, but on their children.
This holds perpetrators to account, and more importantly, it sends a powerful healing message to children and young people: “You are not to blame for the abuse.” - Challenging the system through strategic boards and policy conversations, pushing for real accountability and meaningful implementation of the Domestic Abuse Act.
- Calling for flexible, needs-led funding that allows community-rooted organisations like ours to adapt, innovate, and respond effectively to local need.
- Securing sustainable funding to ensure consistent access to trauma-informed, creative, and therapeutic support for children across every programme and pathway we deliver.
We are also looking inward.
Are our programmes reaching boys effectively?
Are our resources inclusive of LGBTQ+ young people?If not, we are committed to doing better and doing it quickly.
This report cannot become just another document left to gather dust.
It is a call to leadership, accountability, and urgent action.
To commissioners, policymakers, and system leaders: the time for piecemeal progress is over.
We urge you to read this report with the seriousness it demands and act.
The needs of our children and young people cannot wait. And neither will we.
