Domestic Abuse

“We define domestic abuse as an incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and violent behaviour, including sexual violence, in the majority of cases by a partner or ex-partner, but also by a family member or carer.  It is very common.  In the majority of cases it is experienced by women and is perpetrated by men”

Women’s Aid

• If they are in immediate danger contact GMP 999, and initiate child protection/adult safeguarding procedures.
• Make sure the victim/survivor is safe to talk to and is not at risk of being overheard by the alleged perpetrator.
• Complete the Manchester Domestic Abuse referral form, if you have never completed one before, please take time to read the guidance information on pages 1-3.

If you need the risk indicator checklist in another language Safe Lives  have a range of languages.  Safelives also have a range of resources for professionals to support you in your role

Once you have completed the form, if the information you have is less than 14 ‘Yes’ ticks and you don’t have any reason to suggest this is deemed higher risk. You will need the victim/survivor’s consent to refer to a specialist service

If you are in immediate danger: 

• Call 999  
• If you can’t talk, wait until you are connected and either:
• press 55 (from a mobile)
• leave it for 45 seconds (from a landline), or get someone else to phone
• If you are deaf or hard of hearing, you can use our textphone service 18000 (or text us on 999 if you’ve pre-registered with the emergency SMS service), or use 999 BSL or Signvideo

Once you’re connected, you’ll need to state whether you need the police, ambulance or fire service. 

If the situation is not an emergency: If you’re not in immediate danger, but still need the police call GMP on 101 or Report online

If you need information, advice or support there are a wide range of services in Manchester and nationally you can contact:

endthefear.co.uk: services and information for people experiencing domestic abuse and for professionals; its Manchester’s multi-agency Domestic Abuse website 

Greater Manchester Domestic Abuse Helpline: Tel 0800 254 0909 or email helpline@independentchoices.org.uk. This is a free, confidential line, whose staff can provide advice, help you formulate a safety plan, and access refuge spaces across the country. Advice is also available in Urdu and Punjabi.

Research previously undertaken by Safe Lives (Older people and domestic abuse spotlight – SafeLives) focused on the experiences and visibility of older adults experiencing domestic abuse.

The review found that on average, older survivors experience abuse for twice as long before seeking help as those aged under 61 and nearly half have a disability.

Yet older clients are hugely underrepresented among domestic abuse services. The research also found that older survivors are more likely to be living with the perpetrator after getting support.

To help raise awareness the MSP has joined forces with Manchester Community Safety Partnership and commissioned the Hidden Harms animation. This video is designed to raise awareness of the issues and the signs to look for.

Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHR’s) are undertaken where the death of a person aged 16 or over has, or appears to have resulted from violence, abuse or neglect by a relative, household member or someone s/he had been in an intimate relationship with.

Domestic Homicide Reviews are the responsibility of the Community Safety Partnership.

To view published DHR’s please visit the Manchester Community Safety Partnership on the link below

Forced marriage is illegal, it can happen in secret and can also be planned by parents, family or religious leaders. It may involve physical abuse, sexual abuse or emotional abuse.

Everyone has the right to choose who you marry, when you marry or if you marry at all. Forced marriage is not the same as arranged marriage. In an arranged marriage, people always have a choice about whether they get married or not.

HBVA can take many forms: domestic abuse / violence, sexual harassment, assault and rape, psychological abuse, child abuse, kidnapping, false imprisonment, FGM, threats to kill, forced marriage, coercive and controlling behaviours, stalking, house arrest, servitude, isolation from family and community, denial of further education or employment, excessive restrictions on freedom, and social activities, abandonment or sending someone back to their country of origin, dowry abuse, forced suicide, and murder/“honour killing”.

Female genital mutilation (sometimes referred to as female circumcision) refers to procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

The practice is illegal in the UK. It has been estimated that over 20,000 girls under the age of 15 are at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the UK each year, and that 66,000 women in the UK are living with the consequences of FGM.

FGM can occur at different times in a girls or woman’s life, this may include at birth, during childhood or adolescence, just before marriage and during pregnancy.

We offer multi-agency training on Domestic Abuse both online and in person.  For more information please visit our training website below