This briefing on the provision of child-specific advocates for victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence was prepared to inform discussion on the Victims and Prisoners Bill.
Too many children are victims of sexual abuse and domestic abuse, however they often face a postcode lottery when trying to access child-specific advocates, including Child Independent Domestic Violence Advisers and Child Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (CHIDVAs and CHISVAs).
Evidence shows that 1 in 5 children will be exposed to domestic abuse before turning 18 years old, 1 and that 1 in 20 children will experience child sexual abuse in their childhood.
An FOI request by Barnardo’s found just 16.9% of all advocates commissioned to support victims of domestic abuse and sexual abuse by police and crime commissioners in the financial year 2023-24 were there to specifically support children, in the form of CHIDVAs and CHISVAs. Further, the FOI found that more than an additional 1900 FTE CHIDVAs and almost 500 FTE CHISVAs were needed to sufficiently support the number of child victims of domestic abuse and the number of child victims of sexual abuse identified by local authorities.