The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 was a landmark step in recognising children as victims of domestic abuse in their own right. But recognition alone isn’t enough. This Labour government must go further closing the gaps the Act left and ensuring that every child gets the support they need, when they need it.
As someone fortunate never to have experienced domestic abuse as a child, I tabled my Westminster Hall debate both to give a platform to those who cannot speak out and to remind all men that tackling the pervasive culture of misogyny and abuse, where much domestic abuse begins, requires our active engagement and participation.
While I haven’t experienced domestic abuse myself, I’ve made it my mission to have honest conversations with the women in my life and with the wider community. I’ve been deeply moved by the number of women who have bravely shared their experiences with me, and by those who, in my role as an MP, have asked me to use my position to ensure their voices, and those of their children, are heard. That is a responsibility I take incredibly seriously.
One of my constituents courageously shared her story with me, not only as a survivor of childhood domestic abuse, but also of abuse in a later relationship. She explained that stronger preventative measures could have made a profound difference: helping her avoid entering an abusive relationship and supporting her abuser, who himself grew up witnessing violence and tragically went on to repeat the pattern.
The effect of Domestic Abuse on children isn’t abstract, between 2015 and 2024, 19 children were killed by perpetrators of domestic abuse. If we look back over the last 30 years, that number rises to 67. These lives were lost because of an outdated belief that contact with both parents should be prioritised above all else. These tragic deaths show how wrong that approach is. We must put child safety ahead of parental comfort—always.
While I, as a Labour MP, am often critical of the Conservatives I am grateful that they brought in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 – which finally recognised children as victims in their own right and provided the framework for myself and others to argue for greater safeguards to protect these victims. It is now our responsibility, as the government, to ensure that women’s shelters, refuges, and education hubs are properly funded and accessible, so that domestic abuse is prevented wherever possible, and where it does occur, children are safeguarded from further harm.
As a women’s refuge in my constituency told me: recognising children as victims in their own right has led to more referrals — but also longer waits for vital support. This means that while we now acknowledge that children are directly harmed by domestic abuse perpetrators, we are failing to give them the timely help they need to truly escape that abuse. That can’t be right.
That is why, in my speech, I urged the Government to take the following actions:
- Amend the Children Act so it better reflects the lived experiences of children and young people affected by domestic abuse, embedding our enhanced understanding of abuse and making clear that coercive control constitutes ‘harm to children’.
- Publish a clear timeline for implementing the family court reforms recommended in the Ministry of Justice’s Harm Panel review (2020).Introduce mandatory, multi-agency training on domestic abuse across the family justice system.
- Invest in the design and delivery of VAWG prevention programmes in schools and other educational settings.
These steps have already been consulted on and recommended by experts. By implementing them, we can work towards a future where child homicides by abusive parents are drastically reduced—if not eradicated—where children facing abuse receive timely support wherever they are, and where education equips us to prevent abuse before it begins, safeguarding both potential victims and those at risk of becoming perpetrators.
We owe it not only to the victims who survived but the women and children who are tragically no longer with us.
