Developing a picture of teenage relationship abuse to better protect and support young people

As part of our commitment to protecting and supporting young people we want to build our understanding of the reality of teenage relationship abuse in Gloucestershire.

While children living in abusive homes are recognised in law as victims of domestic abuse, those aged under 16 who are subjected to controlling or coercive behaviour, violence or sexual abuse at the hands of their peers are not.

Police services will assess reports of criminal allegations and investigate them when necessary but as adolescent domestic abuse is not formally recorded nationally, there is limited support for teenagers who have an abusive partner.

Deputy Chief Constable Katy Barrow-Grint said: "Young people are some of the most vulnerable members of society. They can be subjected to teenage relationship abuse but be unaware of it happening or too scared to speak out. Online harm is contributing to this, with 27% of children aged 11 having accessed online pornography according to a recent report by the Children's Commissioner.

"We know teenagers can have an abusive partner – we’ve taken a look at some of our data and it’s highlighted that approximately 12% of all rapes and other sexual offences and 4% of strangulation offences reported to us in the past year involved young people under the age of 16.

"We want to start a national conversation here in Gloucestershire to determine how agencies can work together to understand the extent of the problem of teenage relationship abuse and violence, and whether applying the lens of domestic abuse can help determine how we can prevent it and support our young people."

To build our understanding of teenage relationship abuse we are:

• Recording the number of reports of rapes and sexual offences and strangulation offences committed by under 16s against under 16s
• Surveying what other police forces' understanding of teenage relationship abuse is and collating best practice
• Issuing new guidance to officers and staff on how to identify and address abuse and support young people
• Launching consultations with young people, including focus groups, to ensure we're fully understanding their experiences
• Reviewing what our partner agencies across Gloucestershire are actively doing to recognise abuse and what support for victims is available
• Carrying out roundtable events in Gloucestershire and further afield with subject matter experts and interested parties to explore what more could be done in the future

DCC Barrow-Grint has been working with Dr Ruth Weir, deputy director and senior research fellow at City St Georges, University of London for the past two years on teenage relationship abuse and is now using the knowledge she has gained from their work together to support young people in the county.

DCC Barrow-Grint added: "It's our priority here in Gloucestershire to keep children and young people safe and we will always investigate offences committed by children against other children that are reported to us in this context, but we want to make sure that those who are victims are supported in the same way as adult victims of domestic abuse.

"By building a clear picture of the numbers of young people affected, and by working with our partners on a local and national level to improve recognition, prevention and intervention for teenage relationship abuse, we can better ensure our young people grow up safe. We can also ensure young people who have the serious misfortune of having offences committed against them by another young person, are given the most appropriate support."

Dr Weir said: "There's huge value in working with frontline practitioners to understand the extent of domestic abuse faced by some teens in relationships. Police, along with those in education and social care in particular, see up close the damage it can cause young lives and this research will help the government review the current legislation to see whether there are any changes which need to be made.

"It's been excellent to see the work Gloucestershire Constabulary is undertaking with partners to explore this increasingly concerning topic and it will inevitably lead to better awareness and hopefully more appropriate support provided to young people across Gloucestershire."

Police and Crime Commissioner Chris Nelson said: "Supporting young people and children is the golden thread that runs through my new Police and Crime Prevention Plan, so I am very pleased to see Gloucestershire Constabulary leading the way nationally on this work.

"By shining a light on this type of offending, and working with partners, I hope we will significantly improve the service that we are able to offer to victims of teenage relationship abuse and violence, and better target perpetrators so we can intervene early and prevent more vulnerable young people coming to harm."