Understanding of Childhood Domestic Violence & Abuse

Resources 

• This is first edition of the “Shared understanding of childhood domestic violence and abuse” that originated and progressed over a 2 ½ year process by the Childhood and Domestice Violence and Abuse (CDVA) Community of Practice, National advisory group and Empower Kids Childrens Participation Project. Special thank you to all these groups for their contribution to this document.
  
  
• We also welcome feedback. It will form the basis for our reflection when developing a second edition. Circulate the document amongst your agency partners, as a learning/reflection tool. It aims to support services to create a shared understanding of the lived experience of children living with domestic violence and abuse.
  
  
• Impact of Domestice Violence and Abuse (DVA) on children and young people: Little eyes, little ears: how violence against a mother shapes children as they grow, By Alison Cunningham & Linda Baker; The Centre for Children and Families in the Justice System, Canada.

This resource draws together, in one place, information from the best and latest research for professionals and volunteers who help women and children. Topics addressed include what children might feel, think and do during violent incidents against their mothers, roles they might adopt before, during or after incidents, strategies of coping and survival, and how violence may be experienced by children of different ages, from infancy to adolescence. The purpose is to examine how violence against a mother can shape a child. By learning how each child as an individual was shaped by experiences in his or her home – and considering important contextual features of family life – we can devise ways to help.