Domestic Abuse Support Services
Consultation has concluded
Project Update:
A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to this consultation. We recognise how difficult it is to recount your experiences in a consultation and we're extremely grateful to those who did so.
We used what you told us to develop the principles and priorities for our new domestic abuse strategy. Most particularly, it was very clear that you wanted us to listen to people's real lived experiences and to use these to understand what type of support would be most beneficial to those who need it.
The Hartlepool Domestic Abuse Strategy 2022-2025: Building A System Based on Lived Experience was approved by the Safer Hartlepool Partnership on the 8th March 2022 and then by the Council's Finance and Policy Committee on the 14th March 2022. You can view the report, the strategy document and the minutes of the Finance and Policy Committee meeting here: https://www.hartlepool.gov.uk/meetings/meeting/4233/finance_and_policy_committee
What happens next?
We are currently developing a new service specification based on the priorities highlighted in the strategy and the commissioning process for domestic abuse support services will begin in April.
We are also waiting for the government to publish the statutory guidance that will tell us how we need to comply with the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
We will add further updates as information becomes available.
We are currently working with our partners, service providers and service users to review domestic abuse support services in Hartlepool. If you have experienced domestic abuse we would like to hear from you.
Whether the abuse happened recently or in the past you can help us understand if services provided are helping, what else we could or should be doing, or if there are long-standing issues that we need to prioritise.
We would also like to hear from you even if you did not use our services as this will help us to understand where we are not meeting the needs of the community.
How to take part
- If you have used local support services complete this survey
- If you did not use a local support service complete this survey
- If you want to tell us your story in more detail you can do this here
- If you have an idea about something that worked well for you tell us about it here
- If you have an idea about something that we need to improve you can do that here
Confidentiality and safety
We recognise that this is a sensitive subject and that some people who take part in the consultation may be currently in an abusive relationship. As such we have provided two different ways for you to take part:
- You can complete a survey - you will not be asked to provide any personal details and responses are not visible on the site
- You can add an idea or comment on one of our ideas boards - you will be asked to provide a screen name and an email address to post an idea or comment (to prevent people spamming us). Your screen name and comment will be visible to other participants but your email address will not be shown
- Of course you are welcome to do both of these if you want to!
We have turned off email acknowledgements so you will not receive a thank you email for taking part; but rest assured all contributions are really appreciated and will help to improve local services. All contributions will be held securely and when we produce our findings report all data will be reported in an anonymous or pseudonymised form so that no individuals can be identified. You can read more about our privacy and data policies using the links at the bottom of the page.
Closing date
This consultation is open until the 3rd January 2022.
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Jane's Story
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Jane’s* marriage had come to end in 2016 and she and her two children lived alone at their home; the children visited dad often. Jane felt lonely and her daughter suggested she find a new boyfriend and that she deserved some happiness. Jane had never used social media before however she met Allan quite quickly and before she knew it, she had rented out her family home and moved in with him. The children came with her although continued to spend time with their dad whenever they wanted to.
Jane and Allan both worked during the day and soon began to spend a lot of time together drinking on an evening. This led to arguments and quite quickly Allan started using violence against Jane. Jane had never experienced this before and was shocked. Within the first couple of months of being together Allan had head butted Jane breaking her nose and lip. Her son saw this happen, the police were called and social services advised Jane that her son couldn’t stay with her while Allan was around. As Jane now rented a house with Allan and her own home was rented out, she felt she had no choice but to arrange for her son to permanently live with his dad. Her daughter left home as she was old enough to find her own place. This left Jane isolated and she missed seeing the children regularly.
After the first incident, the police told Jane about ‘Claire’s Law’ and so she asked for a disclosure. They told Jane about occasions when they had been called out to incidents in which Allan had been violent to his previous partner but that he had not been cautioned or charged with any offences. She didn’t tell Allan about this.
Over the coming months Jane experienced what she now knows was controlling behaviour. Allan would grab her mobile phone and question who she had been talking to. He smashed up several phones. He would get angry and say that she was cheating on him. Within a month of the first violent assault they got into another argument resulting in Jane being kicked in the abdomen, punched in the face, scratched with keys, bitten and threatened with a knife. Jane called 999 and Allan had fled by the time an ambulance arrived. Jane’s physical and mental health were compromised and she lost her job. Her mum and dad were around but she kept this all from them.
Over the following two years Jane and Allan’s relationship was on and off. He was bailed for assault however he was constantly drawn back to Jane and she felt sorry for him. He regularly threatened to kill himself. Five further serious assaults took place involving strangulation, punches to the head and being stamped on. As well as this Allan would come into the house (despite a restraining order being in place) and her car was found smashed up more than once. Jane lived in fear that he was watching her and had to change her mobile phone many times as he kept finding her number and messaging her, especially late in the night. Despite being in court for battery the case was dismissed.
Jane was trapped; she still owned her own home but had fallen back badly on mortgage payments and there was a tenant living in it. She had not paid the rent on the home she had been sharing with Alan and the landlord was seeking possession. She was certain Allan was sometimes hiding in the garden or in the garage during the night and was frightened. She had a short period at a refuge but didn’t feel that they understood her. Jane went to CAB to try to get her housing problems sorted and to get advice on rising levels of debt. They helped her arrange a Debt Relief Order. She moved out of the home she had shared with Allan and into one of her own. Jane’s financial hardship meant that she asked for help on many occasions with paying her rent, with food and other household essentials. Sometimes Jane was helped and sometimes she was told that she wasn’t eligible. Jane found this very hard not least because she felt everyone should understand how badly she was suffering.
The last violent incident was in September 2017 when Jane was assaulted by Allan whilst out walking her dog. She has not seen him since and has cut off all communication with him. Throughout her experience Jane has kept a diary and she is using this to help with her recovery. Jane wants to make sure her story is shared so that others do not go through what she has experienced. Jane feels strongly that lots of professionals knew that she was in and out of a violent abusive relationship but didn’t maintain their intervention. Jane feels that the professionals that were around her felt that she had ‘made her own choices’. Looking back Jane doesn’t feel she had any choice and desperately wanted someone to take her out of the situation she found herself in.
* Names have been changed - Photo by Valdemars Magone on Unsplash