Primary prevention of domestic violence

The news that from 2011 children will be taught from the age of five how to prevent violent relationships as part of a new government strategy is welcome news.

The primary prevention of domestic violence is an issue that has long been neglected and this has been a disservice to the women and men who have had the devastating experience of violence in their lives.

According to the British Crime Survey 2008 – 2009 there were 293,000 reported incidents of domestic violence in England and Wales. 77% of the total were women and 66% of those were repeat victims. The latest Home Office figures suggest that in one year, 106 people were killed by a current or former partner, 72 of them, being female. This means that domestic attacks result in the death of at least one woman every week and at least one man every two weeks, on average, in England and Wales. This is an appalling statistic but it does not reveal the misery and damage caused to the children who live in and experience the violence of their parents and carers. Under the government plans from 2011, lessons in gender equality and preventing violence in relationships will be compulsory in the personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education curriculum in our schools. I support this initiative fully as direct action to support and equip our children and young people to not develop relationships based on fear, violence, intolerance or lack of respect for others can only contribute to the elimination of the appalling consequences domestic violence and relationship violence brings.