Domestic Abuse

Domestic Abuse 

Domestic abuse is an incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and violent behaviour, including sexual violence, in the majority of cases by a partner or ex-partner, but also by a family member or carer.  

The definition of domestic abuse changed as part of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. The new definition and the Domestic Abuse Act can be read in full here.  

Domestic abuse can consist of any of the following:  

• physical or sexual abuse
• violent or threatening behaviour
• controlling or coercive behaviour
• economic abuse
• psychological, emotional or other abuse 

Read more about the different types of domestic abuse and how to recognise unhealthy behaviours on the Women’s Aid webpage, I’m not sure if my relationship is healthy.  

Support for victim/survivors or children experiencing domestic abuse 

Support to change abusive behaviour 

Wiltshire’s Domestic Abuse Health Needs Assessment

The Domestic Abuse Health Needs Assessment brings together multiple sources of local and national data and research to create a comprehensive picture of domestic abuse in Wiltshire, identifying gaps in services, areas for development and good practice. Wiltshire’s most recent Domestic Abuse Health Needs Assessment can be found here.

Wiltshire’s Domestic Abuse Strategy

Wiltshire's current Domestic Abuse Strategy was published in February 2025, informed by the latest Domestic Abuse Health Needs Assessment. The strategy outlines a clear commitment from Wiltshire partners to embody a partnership approach, driven through the Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board (DALPB), a sub-group of the Wiltshire Community Safety Partnership, made up of representatives from Wiltshire Council, Wiltshire Police, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, Integrated Care Board, National Probation Service and our community and voluntary sector. The strategy incorporates a safe accommodation specific strategic priority with a number of safe accommodation specific outcomes, as per the statutory duty outlined in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. Working together, the DALPB will continue to do all we can to ensure that individuals who have been and continue to be affected by domestic abuse are at the heart of how we take our actions forward to combat the harms caused by domestic abuse. 

Progress made against the Domestic Abuse Strategy will be formally reviewed annually and annual progress reviews will be published for accountability.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 is an integral piece of legislation that will help protect and safeguard those impacted by domestic abuse. One of the specifications in this Act is for local authority areas to develop a strategy for the provision of domestic abuse support within safe accommodation. Wiltshire has incorporated the Support in Safe Accommodation Strategy into the latest Domestic Abuse Strategy under its own strategic priority with a number of safe accommodation specific outcomes. This work seeks to complement existing work taking place across the county to address health and wellbeing, community safety and housing needs of those who are experiencing domestic abuse in Wiltshire. 

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 also introduced new statutory duties and increased accountability on local authorities for the delivery of domestic abuse support to victim/survivors and their families in safe accommodation. The Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) determined under Section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003 that a grant should be paid to local authorities to support the implementation of this act, and in February 2024 Wiltshire Council’s Public Health Team reviewed the progress made against this grant locally. The grant review can be found here.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 also recognises that children who see, hear, or otherwise experience effects of domestic abuse are victims in their own right. This is an important development as it recognises the significant impact that domestic abuse can have on children. You can find out more about the impact of domestic abuse on children here.

If you think a child or young person is at risk, you can find more information about Children’s Safeguarding referrals here. There are also local and national support services who support children and young people experiencing domestic abuse: 

• FearFree (specialist domestic abuse support)

          Phone: 01225 775276 

          Email: spa@fearfree.org.uk 

          Website: https://www.fearfree.org.uk/refer/wiltshire/   

• Wiltshire out of hours helpline: 01225 712880 

• NPSCC

          Phone: 08088 005000 

          Email: help@NSPCC.org.uk  

          Website: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/  

Training for Wiltshire professionals

If you are a professional working within the Wiltshire local authority area you can access domestic abuse training via the Safeguarding Vulnerable People Partnership (SVPP) website.

Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews (formerly known as Domestic Homicide Reviews)

Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews are carried out when domestic abuse results in a death of the victim. This will help professionals understand what happened and what needs to change to reduce the risk of something like this happening again. You can find out more about Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews here. 

Domestic Abuse Toolkit for Employers

Wiltshire conducted a Domestic Homicide Review (now known as a Domestic Abuse Related Death Review) resulting in a recommendation relating to the importance of employers providing support to employees affected by Domestic Abuse. We spend a lot of our time at work, and so employers can have a key role in helping both victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse. We would encourage you to look at what domestic abuse policies your organisations hold and would promote the use of the Domestic Abuse Toolkit for Employers to help create a domestic abuse policy, or improve an existing one. We would also advise all organisations to consider signing up to the Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse, which also provides guidance and support to employers.

The relationship between Domestic Abuse and Suicide

Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership (AWP) have recorded a webinar to raise awareness of the relationship between Domestic Abuse and Suicide, and to encourage organisations to consider this as a possible area of support for victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse. 

This webinar provides lots of information about suicide prevention in victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse, including risk factors, what to look out for, and what organisations can do to support those who need it.  Please access the recording here.