What is Honour-Based Abuse? Honour-Based Abuse (HBA) is a form of domestic abuse that occurs when someone is punished for actions that are perceived to bring shame or dishonour to their family or community. This abuse is often about control — forcing s

Despite high levels of domestic abuse in LGBTQ+ communities, evidence demonstrates that LGBTQ+ victims are unlikely to access help and support. Current studies estimate that 60% to 80% of LGBTQ+ victims have never reported incidents to the police or at

Under-recognised and underreported Domestic abuse can affect anyone, at any age, yet research shows that abuse among older people is frequently under-recognised and underreported. Coercive control is often a feature in older people experiencing abuse f

Adapted from the original Hidden Harms animation commissioned by Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board in partnership with Dewis Choice and created by CC Animation Studio. It’s Never Too Late – every age deserves to live a life free from domestic abuse The

The Southend, Essex and Thurrock Domestic Abuse Board (SETDAB) are working in partnership to support the Suzy Lamplugh Trust’s National Stalking Awareness Week, held from 22 to 25 April. The SETDAB partners have designed a social media pack to raise aw

According to charity Refuge, an estimated three women a week die by suicide following domestic abuse. Statistics indicate that the number of domestic abuse victims taking their own lives has overtaken those being directly killed by their abusers. Curre

This film was co- produced by Dewis Choice with older LGBTQ+ victim-survivors.  It provides an insight into domestic abuse from the ‘lived experiences’ of four older people. For more information about the work of Dewis Choice please visit https://dewis

“My role involves supporting others experiencing domestic abuse, and I felt like I’d appear incompetent because I was struggling myself.” Ellie enjoyed and valued her job working for a housing association. However, for over two and a half years, Ellie’

 “Being a victim of domestic abuse doesn’t define my ability to do my job.” Amy, a well-respected support worker, had been in a relationship with Charlie for just over three years. At the start of the relationship Charlie seemed perfect, he was loving,

“I know that the shame and embarrassment I felt should not have stopped me from seeking help.” Sarah, a dedicated district nurse working in Essex, had been married to her husband, John, for 25 years. They shared a large home in the Hertfordshire countr

One in five adults experience domestic abuse, it is important to recognise anyone can be a victim of domestic abuse. There are unique challenges faced by professionals and those working within domestic abuse services if they themselves become victims I

One in five adults experience domestic abuse, one in three women and one in six men. It’s important to recognise anyone can be a victim of domestic abuse. There are unique challenges faced by professionals and those working within domestic abuse servic

Being able to recognise people who use harmful behaviour You will come across people who use harmful behaviour in your day-to-day line of work. Recognising the signs and behaviours of people using harmful behaviour can help inform any further action yo

Published January 2025

Published January 2025

The cost of living crisis is an issue that impacts many people. Find out what support is available locally and nationally to help with daily living during this challenging time. Southend City Council Essential Living Fund – the fund can be used for fur

Published October 2024.

Clare’s Law, which is officially known as the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS), is a scheme that gives people the right to ask if their current or ex-partner has any previous history of violence or domestic abuse. The scheme is named after Cl

Non-fatal strangulation is a specific offence as part of the Domestic Abuse Act. It typically involves strangling or intentionally affecting a victim’s ability to breathe in an attempt to control or intimidate them and can lead to serious health issues

Published March 2024.

Published March 2023.

Published January 2024

Domestic abuse can occur at any age. Research shows that domestic abuse affecting older people is often not recognised and under reported. Older people can be victims of interpersonal violence, or abuse by family members however we do not see older peo

Please see links below for the SET Multi-Agency and Health FGM Flowchart.  It provides professionals working across SET the guidance to respond appropriately to concerns regarding FGM. SET Multi- Agency FGM Flowchart SET Health FGM Flowchart

Published September 2023.

Published September 2023.

Dewis Choice Practitioner Guidance is endorsed by the World Health Organisation and The Older People’s Commissioner for Wales as best practice and is available here: https://dewischoice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Practitioner-guidance-document-E

The Traveller Movement is a registered UK charity promoting inclusion and community engagement with Gypsies, Roma and Travellers (GRT). The Traveller Movement seeks to empower and support GRT communities to advocate for the full implementation of their

Published 6th September 2022 *The NHS England Independent Investigation report can be found by clicking here.    

Working alongside Director/Producer Christian Gordine, the Dewis Choice research initiative at Aberystwyth University has produced a new podcast, Out of Sight, which explores the lived experiences of this often hidden and unheard group in society. Base

What is a Domestic Homicide Review? A Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) is a review into the circumstances around a death of someone following domestic abuse.  The purpose is to establish what can be learned from the death regarding the way in which local

Domestic Abuse is Everyone’s Business – We All Have a Role to Play. Domestic abuse can happen to anyone, regardless of age, social background, gender, religion, sexuality or ethnicity. The abuse can be physical, emotional, psychological, economic or se

AAFDA and AVA received funding from MOPAC in 2020 to develop resources that could build confidence of chairs/authors/panel members to ask about children and hold children’s views in mind throughout the DHR process. As well as an e-Learning package curr

The Southend, Essex & Thurrock Domestic Abuse Board has weekly bulletins. This is where we update everyone with all the most up to date information and developments regarding Domestic Abuse across Southend, Essex & Thurrock. To view our histori

Community leaders are uniting across Southend, Essex and Thurrock and promising to end male violence against women. White Ribbon Day on Thursday, November 25th also known as International Day of the Elimination of Violence Against Women sees the start

Published August 2021.

Video From Alpha Vesta Domestic Abuse means different things to different people but 1 in 5 adults and 1 in 5 children are affected across our communities with the national cost estimated to be around £66 billion per year (Home Office, 2019).  Interest

Home Office: Domestic Abuse partner pack May2021

Southend, Essex & Thurrock Domestic Abuse Board Strategy 2020-2025

Outcome 1: Children and young people can recognise and form healthy relationships – Monday, 23rd November 2020: Resources from 23rd Nov 2020 webinar Outcome 2: People experiencing and at risk of experiencing domestic abuse are supported to be and feel

Published November 2020. *The NHS England Independent Investigation report can be found by clicking here.

Published October 2020.

Published June 2020. *The NHS England Independent Investigation report can be found by clicking here.

Please visit our new MARAC homepage: MARAC (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference) – Southend and Thurrock Domestic Abuse Partnership

A Domestic Abuse guidance video aimed at professionals providing useful resources across the sector and signposting into services. This video was created by the Southend, Essex & Thurrock Domestic Abuse Board in collaboration with Essex County Coun

Executive Summary published May 2020.

Home Secretary announces support for domestic abuse victims A new public awareness raising campaign will highlight that if anyone is at risk of, or experiencing domestic abuse, help is still available. The Home Secretary launched a new public awareness

Our message to victims and survivors of domestic abuse

Essex organisations work to help the public stay safe at home Organisations across Essex have come together to help keep residents safe while they spend more time at home during the coronavirus pandemic. The Stay Safe at Home campaign, which launches t

A report looking at children’s experience of Domestic Abuse and Criminality

DAWSA (Domestic Abuse Whole System Approach) Information Resource. The Domestic Abuse Whole System Approach (DAWSA) programme was implemented regionally over 6 force areas and provided the opportunity to test the transferability of work streams and und

SETDAB Coercive Control fact sheet: Please click here. The Maze of Coercive Control: Please click here. Avoiding Collusion Hints and Tips: Please click here.  

A charging policy is in place for all SETDAB learning and development opportunities, this policy applies to all courses from September 2019. The cost to participants for each course is clearly stated in the learning and development information produced

For Service Providers – Myths about LGBT Victims

For Service Providers – Barriers for LGBT Victims

Domestic Abuse and the LGBT Communities

In Dec 2016 the Home Office offered £17 million, for local commissioners to help prevent and address violence against women and girls. Following a successful bid, SETDAB secured £450,000 to develop a suite of interventions for domestic abuse perpetrato

Dr Jane Monckton Smith, University of Gloucester The killing of women by their intimate, or former intimate, partners is a serious social, criminal justice and public health issue. There are significant pressures on public services in the UK to reduce

The SET DHR SSP serves as the SET DHR Information Sharing Agreement under the Overarching ISP. This page relates to the Southend, Essex & Thurrock Domestic Homicide Review Sharing Specific for Purpose (SET DHR SSP). The SET DHR SSP is to be read in

Research by SafeLives and Gentoo looks at the vital role housing providers can play in the response to domestic abuse. Every year, nearly two million people in the UK experience domestic abuse. Seven women a month are killed by a current or former part

Respect’s Toolkit for Work with Male Victims of Domestic Abuse.

Every week in the UK, two women are murdered by a partner or ex-partner. Some of these deaths attract media attention, but due to a lack of guidance, domestic homicides are too often reported in a way that compromises the dignity of the deceased woman

Published April 2019.

Published April 2019.

In March 2018, The Home Office consulted on proposals for this landmark draft bill, alongside a package of practical action. They sought views from victims, support organisations and frontline professionals, to harness their knowledge and expertise. Th

This report estimates the social and economic cost for victims of domestic abuse in year ending March 2017 in England and Wales to be approximately £66 billion. The analysis follows the same approach as in other Home Office ‘cost of crime’ estimates to

Published February 2019.

A report by Peer Researchers for the National Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence and Multiple Disadvantage. To read the full report please click on the ‘Download File’ button appearing below.

Research into the extent and nature of financial abuse within intimate relationships in the UK. My Money, My life – economic abuse Refuge, in partnership with The Co-operative Bank, launched the powerful ‘My money, my life’ campaign to shine a spotligh

What is the Femicide Census? The Femicide Census is a database containing information on over one thousand women killed by men in England and Wales since 2009. It is a ground-breaking project which aims to provide a clearer picture of men’s fatal viole

Published March 2017.

Published December 2018.

Published November 2013.

Published April 2018.

The Home Office launched a Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) campaign on 5 October 2018 to tackle this crime and protect vulnerable women and girls. The campaign will support our ongoing work to tackle FGM, which includes an ongoing programme of outreach

Please see attachment showing the activities the Central DA team were notified of that are being implemented across Southend, Essex & Thurrock. National DA week – Activity Log

Ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Combating Violence Against Women and Girls and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) – 2018 Report on Progress. Domestic Violence Istanbul Convention 2018 report

This guidance on female genital mutilation (FGM) is for all persons and bodies in England and Wales. You must read and follow this guidance if you are under statutory duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and vulnerable adults.  

The Domestic Violence Resource Centre have created the ‘What’s Ok At Home’ website to help people understand what family violence is, why it happens, how to recognise it and how to help others who are experiencing it. The website allows individuals to;

The Best Practice Guidance was developed to support practitioners recognise incidents of abuse that must be taken through the safeguarding processes, and differentiate those from incidents that should be case or risk managed, or taken through other rou

Domestic abuse is never acceptable, whatever your age. In the last few years there has been a sharp increase in the number of reported incidents of domestic abuse by people over 55. In response to this increase we have launched a countywide campaign to

The NHS England website provides details of learning courses; some of the training is provided by NHS England, or their partners, and some training is provided by other organisations. There are a range of online options but they also offer face-to-face

A draft domestic abuse policy for NHS Trusts to adapt, which ties in with existing violence and aggression policies, is  available on the Health and Wellbeing section of the NHS Employers website (www.nhsemployers.org). This policy has been produced in

AVA was awarded funding from the Department of Health Innovation, Excellence and Strategic Development (IESD) fund to deliver PRIMH (PromotingRecovery in Mental Health). PRIMH provide intensive support to two mental health trusts to implement a change

The findings of SafeLives’ research, which provides evidence from over 4,000 victims supported in hospital and community settings, show that we are missing opportunities to identify victims of domestic abuse – particularly the most vulnerable – and tha

This document improves understanding of the complexities of disabled people’s experiences of domestic abuse and promotes consideration of these complexities within the public health system. It also supports local and national action, and provides guida

To help all NHS staff and allied healthcare partners in their response to victims of domestic violence and abuse. This resource looks at how health professionals can support adults and young people over 16 who are experiencing domestic abuse, and depen

E-learning for healthcare (E-LfH) is a Health Education England programme operating in partnership with the NHS and other professional bodies, and provides a range of e-learning resources for NHS staff across a variety of topics. NHS Improvement Websit

NHS organisations have statutory guidance and responsibilities to make sure that staff are appropriately training in relation to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). These training standards set out on NHS England’s website address this: Female Genital Mut

The SET Domestic Violence and Abuse Competency Framework sets out the expectations the SET DA Board has of organisations in relation to achieving the domestic abuse competencies needed depending on the role, training and resources available within agen

Published March 2017.

Published December 2017.

Published April 2013.

Published April 2016.

Published November 2016.

Published January 2016.

Published July 2015.

Published December 2013.

Published March 2015.

Published May 2013.

Published January 2013.

Published October 2013.

Published October 2013.

Published November 2013.

Published July 2013.

Published April 2014.

A campaign aimed at challenging the behaviour of people who use abusive behaviours.

Published in December 2016.

The guidance for domestic homicide reviews was updated in December 2016.

Outlines the actions the government will be taking towards its strategy of ending violence against women and girls.

Outlines the key outcomes that the Southend, Essex and Thurrock Domestic Abuse Board work towards.