Disabled adults are more likely to experience domestic abuse than non-disabled adults

The Norfolk Integrated Domestic Abuse Service (NIDAS) has launched its Domestic Abuse and Disabilities campaign today.  The six-week campaign aims to raise awareness of domestic abuse amongst people with disabilities, including their friends and family members who might be concerned.

Research has shown that disabled adults, regardless of age, are more likely to experience domestic abuse and are more likely to be abused by a family member, partner or carer.

Domestic abuse is an incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and/or violent behaviour, including sexual violence. A legal definition of domestic abuse was introduced as part of the Domestic Abuse Act, which became law in 2021.

NIDAS is funded by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk, Norfolk County Council, Norwich City Council, South Norfolk and Broadland District Councils.

Delivered in partnership with Leeway Domestic Violence and Abuse Service, The Daisy Programme and Safe Partnerships (for target hardening of high-risk clients), NIDAS provides direct support for adults (16+) of all genders, ensuring everyone has access to a full range of help and guidance regardless of where they live in the county.

The support includes dedicated Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVA) to help those currently experiencing abuse, including an experienced IDVA for people with disabilities (if assessed to be at high or medium risk of harm) with recovery programmes and a sanctuary scheme that provides target hardening measures which could include ‘safe rooms’ for those deemed to be at high risk.

The service also offers dedicated support for children and young people (if their parent or care giver has been in service) along with coordinated multi-agency support and access to specialist court IDVAs based in the county’s Magistrates courts, who offer support to victims or survivors in domestic abuse proceedings.

NIDAS IDVAs work directly with victims or survivors to develop personalised safety and support plans to help people to move on from abuse with increased confidence and wellbeing, towards long-term positive outcomes.

Sarah Taylor, Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk, said: “Domestic abuse happens in every part of our community – it transcends race, class, gender, sexuality and body types.  This campaign aims to raise awareness of domestic abuse and how it affects people with disabilities. Very often people do not even realise this is happening to them, and disabled people are no exception. Making sure that NIDAS is clearly accessible for disabled people is of paramount importance to help people cope with and recover from the situation and to prevent further harm. I would encourage anyone experiencing domestic abuse to get in touch with NIDAS. You will be believed.”

Charlotte Richardson, NIDAS Service Manager, said: “One of the key aims of NIDAS is to ensure that the service is accessible to all, regardless of where they live or any protected characteristics that they might have. We know that having a disability can add barriers to accessing support and hope that this campaign will break some of these down, raising awareness of the support that is available and how domestic abuse can affect those with disabilities.” 

Read more about the Disability and Domestic Abuse Campaign