Barnardo’s NI welcomes the opportunity to provide our response to the joint departmental consultation on the Domestic and Sexual Abuse Strategy 2023- 2030. Our comments are informed by our work with the diverse communities of children and families that we support through our 45+ services in Northern Ireland. As previously stated within our Call for Views response in March 2022, it is important this strategy speaks to, and meets the needs of, the wide range of experiences in Northern Ireland, and we have used this breadth of service experience to inform our comments and recommendations.
Barnardo’s NI also provide specialist support to children, young people, and families affected by, or at risk of, sexual abuse or exploitation. Our regional service, SEEN (Sexual Exploitation Ends Now), is a specialist child sexual exploitation service, which supports children, young people and families affected by, or at risk of, sexual abuse, and can provide specialist therapeutic support for children who have experienced sexual exploitation.