Pathways to Protection and Multi-agency collaboration

The overview of the prevalence and impact of domestic abuse on children and young people highlights the significance of protection – keeping children safe. The review of children’s perspectives literature reveals ‘being safe ’ as one of two key concerns for children themselves; the second is ‘having someone to listen to them’, with safety often a prerequisite to children feeling able to speak to someone about domestic abuse. Three key themes emerge on the issues of protection. Firstly, no one organisation is responsible for keeping children safe. Effective multi-agency collaboration is required. Secondly, protective action needs to focus on intervention with the perpetrator. Thirdly, the protection of children is separate but linked to the protection of their mothers. Each of these areas will be discussed in more detail