UK domestic abuse helplines report surge in calls during lockdown

A helpline for perpetrators of domestic abuse who are seeking help to change their behaviour has received 25% more calls as the Covid-19 lockdown continues, fresh figures show.

The Respect phone line, which provides confidential advice to perpetrators about violence and domestic abuse, had a 26.86% increase in calls in the week starting 30 March, compared with the week before. The Respect phone line website recorded an increase in hits of 125% in the same period.

The Men’s Advice Line, for male victims of domestic abuse, which is also run by the charity Respect, had an increase in calls of 16.6% in the same week, while the advice line website registered an increase in traffic of 42%.

The figures come as Refuge, the UK’s largest domestic abuse charity, reported a 120% increase in calls to its helpline, which provides advice and facilitates referrals to refuge accommodation, in 24 hours following a fresh round of publicity on Monday.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, the recently-appointed shadow home secretary, has called on the government to provide an emergency financial package to organisations providing domestic abuse support services during the Covid-19.

Experts in the field have warned that abusers and their partners having to self-isolate together at home may lead to an increase in abusive behaviour and violence due to the pressure cooker effect of being trapped indoors.

The Respect phone line offers advice to individuals who have been violent towards their partners or are fearful conditions of the lockdown will lead to them losing control of their behaviour. There was an initial dip in calls at the start of the lockdown but an increase recorded last week.

Sara Kirkpatrick, a former services, research and development manager at Respect, said: “At the moment, what we’re doing, the Respect phone line and our members, we’re looking at de-escalation and self-management techniques. Those ideas about helping someone maintain non-harmful, non-abusive behaviours.”

Kirkpatrick, who left Respect at the end of last week to take up the role of chief executive of Welsh Women’s Aid, added: “We’re opening up to respond to a broader range of issues.

“Usually, there are some things we would move someone on to a different source of support – issues relating to mental health and relationship issues that under normal circumstances aren’t actually perpetrating domestic abuse and are just people feeling stress and anxiety.

“We will be offering support to those people because actually in difficult times we don’t want situations to escalate. A lot of the resources we have available will be about helping people to de-escalate difficult situations and manage themselves in a crisis.

“Callers are more concerned about being indoors more and worried about not being able to control their own behaviour, and feeling quite hopeless and helpless as there are more limitations on the other services they can get to, which increases anxiety even more.”

Kirkpatrick said the charity’s member organisations that work with perpetrators are having to move to non face-to-face work.

Some domestic violence perpetrator programmes are based on a model similar to Alcoholics Anonymous. Men who have been abusive in variety of ways, physical and emotional, get together under supervision, discuss their experiences and use a variety of interactive exercises to help them understand the impact of their behaviour.

At the start of lockdown procedures being announced, Refuge undertook a huge technological operation and moved its helpline, usually located in a cyber secure office environment, to an entirely remote system.

On Monday, the charity revealed calls to the helpline had increased 25% in the previous week.

Following significant media coverage of the statistics, calls and contacts logged on the following day – 6 April – were up by 120% compared with the previous day.

Sandra Horley, the chief executive of Refuge, said: “This is an enormous increase which underscores what we already know – domestic abuse is a scourge on society and must be addressed.”

The freephone, 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline is 0808 2000 247

The Respect phone line 0808 8024040 is open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm