The Islands Safeguarding Children Partnership and Domestic Abuse Strategy are jointly organising a conference for professionals working with children and families on the subject of child to parent violence
Friday 13th July, the Peninsula Hotel
Child to parent violence (CPV) is the most hidden, misunderstood and stigmatised form of domestic abuse. It involves teenage (and younger) children who use physical, psychological, emotional and financial abuse towards their parents or carers, who may come to live in fear of their child. The stigma and shame experienced by parents and carers who are in this situation often means they worry about seeking help from professionals for fear this might aggravate the problem. Other parents and carers might not know who to turn to for support.
Many practitioners in mainstream services have little knowledge and experience of how to tackle CPV and there are few specialised intervention projects nationally from which to seek advice. Guernsey is not immune from the effects of CPV. It is important that agencies have a shared understanding of the issue as a multi-agency approach is often needed in order to achieve positive change.
Simon Westwood, Chair of the Islands Safeguarding Children Partnership says:
"This conference will provide an overview of CPV and will look at some of the models of intervention available. It is intended to bring multi-agency professionals together to discuss the issue, relate it to their own work and develop a common understanding for the local context. How individuals and agencies work collaboratively to recognise and respond to CPV is important for the welfare of the children and families affected. The ultimate goal is to enable local professionals to work together effectively to support families, improve communication and build respectful relationships." Three specialists in this area of work will address the conference:
Helen Bonnick An overview of Child to Parent Violence
Helen is a social worker with over 30 years of experience working with children and families. She dedicates much of her time now to raising awareness of CPV through writing and talking on the subject on her website, through her blog, on the radio and at conferences. She is currently writing a book on the subject as an aide to practitioners. Helen's website is called Holes in the Wall - https://holesinthewall.co.uk/.
Jo Sharpen Trauma informed practice
Jo is a qualified youth worker and is currently policy manager at AVA - Against Violence and Abuse - https://avaproject.org.uk/. She co-wrote national guidance for the Home Office on child to parent abuse, was an advisor to the Department for Education on preventing violence against women and girls and wrote a national toolkit on children and domestic violence for the Department of Health - Improving Safety, Reducing Harm.
Maria Duah Interventions for working with families
Maria is a social worker with over 18 years of experience of working with children and families. She started her career as a community development worker and more recently has worked for the Domestic Violence Intervention Project in London. She has a specialist interest in CPV and has set up her own training agency, Silenced - www.silenced.org.uk - to train professionals in CPV and teenage intimate partner violence.
https://www.gov.gg/article/166172/Islands-Safeguarding-Children-Partnership-and-Domestic-Abuse-Strategy-conference-2018-Addressing-Child-to-Parent-Violence-a-hidden-problem
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