Domestic Abuse Commissioner calls for CPA funding, research and resources

Harriet Ernstsons-Evans • November 8, 2021

The Domestic Abuse Commissioner has today released a Rapid Literature Review into Child to Parent Abuse...

The report was prepared for the Domestic Abuse Commissioner's office by Dr Victoria Baker and Helen Bonnick. They looked at a range of questions including what exactly constitutes Child to Parent Abuse, what are the causes/contexts, how does it link to other forms of abuse, what's the impact, what are the current approaches, and are there gaps in our current knowledge and research.

One of the issues highlighted was the range of terminology and definitions used when describing CPA (indeed, at PEGS we refer to it as Child to Parent Abuse as we feel this encapsulates all behaviours from children of any age including youngsters, teens and adult offspring - in the review they refer to CAPVA or Child and Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse).


The authors identify wide-ranging impacts on the parents/carers/guardians, on others in the family, and on the child themselves - including physical, emotional, space and movement restrictions, financial and legal consequences.


And they highlight there's no one explanation which can identify why CPA occurs - instead there are a complex set of factors including, but in no way limited to, mental ill health, substance abuse, and having previously witnessed domestic abuse. There are some demographic factors which may put certain families at higher risk - but again these are in no way definite. Including parenting in these factors can (and has) been highlighted as victim blaming.


The report acknowledges that CPA doesn't end at the age of 18 - and that, until recently, the issue was largely unrecognised in social policy.


And of course, there are a number of recommendations made, including:

  • A Home-Office-led consultation to agree a national definition and terminology
  • Including data in yearly Office for National Statistics surveys
  • Longitudinal research looking at the long-term effects
  • Research to also reflect young people's experiences and perspectives
  • A dedicated national policy
  • Additional funding and training for local authorities and agencies to help them implement the policy
  • A national helpline and digital resource for parents


Do read the full report or the executive summary for more information.

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