DART helps children recover from domestic abuse
Domestic Abuse, Recovering Together (DART) is our evidence-based service that gives children aged 7 –14 and their mums the opportunity to talk, learn to communicate and rebuild their relationship following domestic abuse.
Home should be a safe place for every child.
A place where children are able to grow and develop, surrounded by love and security.
In a home where domestic abuse happens, safety is replaced with unpredictable behaviour, security swapped for slamming doors and raised voices.
Where children should experience love, they’re faced with pain and fear.
DART helps children recover from domestic abuse
Domestic Abuse, Recovering Together (DART) is our evidence-based service that gives children aged 7 –14 and their mums the opportunity to talk, learn to communicate and rebuild their relationship following domestic abuse.
Home should be a safe place for every child.
A place where children are able to grow and develop, surrounded by love and security.
In a home where domestic abuse happens, safety is replaced with unpredictable behaviour, security swapped for slamming doors and raised voices.
Where children should experience love, they’re faced with pain and fear.
The impact of domestic abuse
Witnessing abuse causes significant harm. It undermines a child’s basic need for safety and security, and can have a serious effect on their behaviour, brain development, education, and overall wellbeing.
Even once safe from their abuser, children may become withdrawn, emotional and aggressive. Without intervention, young victims are left more vulnerable to other forms of abuse.
Although domestic abuse can happen to anyone, evidence shows that women and girls are disproportionately affected.
That’s why our service focuses on working with mums and their children.
Accessing support
In 2023 the UK government labelled violence against women and girls as a national threat, committing to do more to protect them against harm. Despite this, an estimated 1.7 million women still experience domestic abuse in the UK every year, with less than half of them accessing support.
Access to vital support can be patchy and inconsistent, thanks to a postcode lottery and services that are chronically underfunded.
And even though the law now recognises children who see, hear, or experience the effects of domestic abuse as victims in their own right, less than a third of children affected access support.
We believe that every child deserves the chance to heal, and to rebuild relationships following domestic abuse.
Accessing support
In 2023 the UK government labelled violence against women and girls as a national threat, committing to do more to protect them against harm. Despite this, an estimated 1.7 million women still experience domestic abuse in the UK every year, with less than half of them accessing support.
Access to vital support can be patchy and inconsistent, thanks to a postcode lottery and services that are chronically underfunded.
And even though the law now recognises children who see, hear, or experience the effects of domestic abuse as victims in their own right, less than a third of children affected access support.
We believe that every child deserves the chance to heal, and to rebuild relationships following domestic abuse.
Helping mums and their children recover together
DART supports mums and children in recovering from the effects of abuse, together.
Research shows that domestic abuse disrupts the relationship between parents and their children, and that mums and children often require professional support to begin recovering from the effects of that abuse.
Children who witness violence from their parents are found more likely to repeat this violence in their adult relationships.
The breakdown of family systems during domestic violence can lead to trauma responses which endure in adulthood.
To break this cycle of abuse, children need to be given the chance to recover and rebuild healthy family relationships.
A research based approach
DART’s model is based on research and statutory guidance which shows that children’s recovery is much more effective when mums take an active part in it. This is why we bring mums and children together in DART sessions.
Sessions focus first on improving their relationship, while supporting other essential parts of their recovery.
Over 10 weeks, mums and children aged 7 to 14 meet for a weekly two-hour group session.
Mums and children work together for an hour at the start of the group and then take part in activities in separate groups. At the end of each session, they join together again.
Through the sessions, mums learn more about how domestic abuse happens, how it affects children, and explore experiences and strategies they can use as a parent.
And children take part in activities that help them build their own understanding of domestic abuse and how they’re feeling.
Margaret's experience of DART
DART helped Margaret, and her children Marcus and Faith, following their experience of domestic abuse.
“I was worried about the violence the children had seen and how it might affect them. We’d never discussed the domestic abuse they’d witnessed or the physical abuse they’d been through but I saw that it had affected them. Both children were sullen, and weren’t very good at articulating their feelings. They were very obedient and didn’t really behave like children at all.
“Both children took part in the NSPCC’s domestic abuse programme at our local centre. It had been three years since we had escaped the abuse but it soon became clear that the children were benefitting from the therapy sessions.
“After one session where Marcus had been asked to make a doll’s house and talk about the different things he’d seen in each room, he came home very upset and angry with his father. He woke up in the middle of the night, sweating and shaking and rocking himself. He just wanted to lash out so I gave him a Yellow Pages and he wrote swear words and wrote awful things about Tony that he’d remembered and ripped them up and threw them away. I felt he’d finally let go of his anger.
“The NSPCC’s work with my children gave them the light back behind their eyes. They changed from quiet and subdued children to boisterous and playful. It felt like they’d released whatever they’d been holding onto. We were all finally happy and free to live.
“Before my children started working with the NSPCC I was really worried about their futures. The activities NSPCC did with Marcus and Faith gave them ample opportunity to speak about their feelings and come to terms with the domestic abuse that they’d witnessed and the physical abuse they’d been through. My children are my stars and I know that they will never harm anyone, but without the NSPCC’s help, they might not have been that way.”
*Names and identifying features changed to protect identities.
Providing vital support, for everyone
We’ve been delivering specialist domestic abuse services in the UK for decades, with a proven track record of effectiveness. In recent years, DART has been both recognised by the Home Office and cited as good practice by the National Institute of Care Excellence.
Our unique approach is built on a significant evidence-base.
In multiple impact evaluations, mums accessing DART had improved self-esteem, more confidence in their parenting, and better relationships with their children. Children were found to have significantly fewer emotional and behavioural difficulties.
Support today, changing tomorrow
By enabling mums and children to recover from domestic abuse, DART reduces the likelihood of children entering relationships where abuse is more likely to occur in the future. Therefore, not only does this service help children who desperately need us today, but it reduces pressure on support services they might otherwise need in the future.
We want every victim of domestic abuse across the UK to have the chance to recover from their experiences and prevent future abuse.
That’s why we’re working with specialist organisations that are run by and for the people and communities they aim to serve, and training professionals to deliver DART locally where it’s needed most.
Will you help children and their mums recover after domestic abuse?
Without intervention, domestic abuse can cast a long shadow over children’s lives, fundamentally altering their sense of safety, and approach to relationships.
The lack of specialist support available for children affected by domestic abuse desperately needs to be addressed. By scaling up delivery of DART through specialist organisations, we know that this evidence-based support will help more children across the country recover from abuse and rebuild relationships with their mums.
Your philanthropic support will help children come to terms with what’s happened to them, learn to manage their feelings, and restore their relationships.
Together, we can break the cycle of abuse.
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