Gateshead Domestic Abuse Strategy 2025-28

Domestic Abuse is one of the five priorities on which our current Community Safety Partnership Plan is based. We believe that everybody in Gateshead, both adults and children, should be able to live free from violence, abuse and oppression, especially in their own homes. I welcome and commend this Strategy as an important step along the way to achieving that goal.

Councillor Angela Douglas, Chair of Gateshead Community Safety Board

 

As Gateshead Council's Chief Executive, I am committed to making Gateshead a safe place for everyone. Tackling domestic abuse is a Council-wide priority, however, the only way we can tackle it is by working effectively with our partners - police and criminal justice agencies, the NHS, and our voluntary and community sector. Domestic abuse is complex, and it has a huge impact on individuals, families and our communities. As the Chair of Gateshead's Domestic Abuse Partnership Board, it is my role to ensure that we deliver a whole borough response to tackling domestic abuse and respond to the needs of adult and child victims and survivors by providing specialist support and holding perpetrators to account.

Domestic abuse remains high, people are facing a wide range of difficulties and the demand on services is greater than ever. It is more important now than ever before to develop a partnership response to prevent domestic abuse and to keep our residents safe.

Dale Owens, Chair of Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership Board (DAPB)

This is our first multi-agency Domestic Abuse Strategy for Gateshead that extends beyond our statutory duties. It has been coproduced with partners, developed from:

• Our local Domestic Abuse Needs Assessment
• A multi-agency strategy development workshop
• Engagement with our specialist Domestic Abuse Service
• Consultation with members of our Domestic Abuse Partnership Board

Why do we need a Domestic Abuse Strategy?

Domestic abuse is widespread in Gateshead, with a significantly higher number of incidents and crimes reported in our area than the national average. 

Over the last 3 years, there has been an increase in the number of domestic abuse incidents reported in Gateshead, and an increase in the number and complexity of referrals to agencies across the Partnership. The Domestic Abuse Needs Assessment provides detailed information on the need and demand in Gateshead over the last 3 years.

Domestic abuse can have a negative impact on victim/survivor's health, with the potential to cause further cycles of abuse. In extreme cases, it can result in death by homicide or suicide.

This Strategy focuses on moving towards a prevention model of domestic abuse, placing an added emphasis on early intervention, preventing harm to children and young people, and tackling perpetrators to prevent further harm to victim/survivors of domestic abuse.

To achieve the aims of the strategy, the Domestic Abuse Partnership Board (DAPB) will work towards a fully Coordinated Community Response (CCR) which, as defined by Standing Together, enables a whole system response to every individual victim and survivor. In turn, our aim is to shift responsibility for safety away from individuals to the community and services existing to
support them.

Every agency that has a responsibility for working with victims, survivors, their children and/or perpetrators, must work effectively within their agency and with all other agencies who also have that responsibility, to secure the safety of the survivor and their children and hold perpetrators to account.

Domestic Abuse can take many forms, including physical, emotional, economic and/or sexual abuse, as well as controlling and coercive behaviour.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 created a legal definition of domestic abuse:

• Behaviour of a person ("A") towards another person ("B") is "domestic abuse" if: (a) A and B are each aged 16 or over and are personally connected to each other, and (b) the behaviour is abusive.
• This includes physical, emotional, economic, sexual abuse and controlling and coercive behaviour.
• Personally connected' means: intimate partners, ex-partners, family members or individuals who share parental responsibility for a child.
• Part 1 of the Act also provides that a child who sees or hears, or experiences the effects of, domestic abuse and is related to or under parental responsibility of the person being abused or the perpetrator is also to be regarded as a victim of domestic abuse. This means that where the Act imposes a duty in relation to victims of domestic abuse, this will include children as described in Part 1.

We acknowledge that within the definition of domestic abuse, there are different experiences of abuse. These include intimate partner violence; adult family violence and abuse; so-called 'honour' based abuse; forced marriage; and child to parent violence and/or abuse where the child is aged 16 or over.

We recognise that domestic abuse disproportionately affects women and girls and is mostly perpetrated by men. However, anyone of any gender, sexuality or age can experience or perpetrate domestic abuse.

Domestic abuse is strongly associated with additional needs, such diagnosed or undiagnosed mental health conditions and use of drugs and/or alcohol. The prevalence of reported domestic abuse also has a strong connection with deprivation, although domestic abuse can affect anyone, and none of these factors may be present.

Gateshead has a population of around 197,700 (ONS Mid-Year Population Estimates 2022) living in 89,000 households (ONS Census 2021).

The diversity of our Gateshead population is shown within the Gateshead Equality Profile 

Gateshead is ranked the 47th most deprived local authority in England (out of 317).

Within Gateshead there are 21 areas which fall within the 10% most deprived areas in England, equating to almost 32,700 people or 16% of the population of Gateshead. Much of this deprivation is based within the central and eastern urban areas of the borough.

We know over half of people and families in Gateshead are either 'just managing' or 'just coping', but more than 30% are in need or in vulnerable situations. Gateshead experiences higher-than-average unemployment and financial and social exclusion compared to national.

This Strategy is owned and endorsed by Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership Board (DAPB) on behalf of Gateshead Community Safety Board (CSB), and will be delivered through the work of the DAPB and its sub-groups.

The DAPB is responsible for supporting Gateshead Council to meet its statutory duty in relation to the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 by:

• Developing a local domestic abuse needs assessment, strategy and service delivery model to make Gateshead a safer place to live, work and visit; and
• Improving outcomes for victim/survivors of domestic abuse (adults and children) through a strategic approach to identifying and addressing gaps in support within community-based support and safe accommodation services.

The DAPB is made up of various responsible bodies and agencies that, by law, must be represented at the meeting. We will develop arrangements to provide an independent voice from people with lived experience of domestic abuse.

Gateshead Council

• Adult Social Care
• Children's Social Care
• Community Safety
• Public Health & Wellbeing
• Quality Assurance & Commissioning
• Gateshead Domestic Abuse Team
• Education
• Neighbourhoods and Localities
• Strategic Housing
• HR and Workforce Development

Safeguarding

• Gateshead Safeguarding Children Partnership
• Gateshead Safeguarding Adults Board

Policing and Criminal Justice

• Northumbria Police
• Probation Service
• Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner (Violence Reduction Unit)

Health and Wellbeing

• North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (Newcastle Gateshead)
• Gateshead NHS Trust (Queen Elizabeth Hospital)
• Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear NHS Foundation Trust

Representatives of charities and other voluntary organisations that work with victim/survivors of domestic abuse

• Tyneside Women's Health
• Oasis Community Housing

Domestic abuse is a key issue for all organisations and services involved in this strategy. It creates significant demand for services and, therefore, considerable cost pressures across all these areas of activity.

This strategy aims to align with the work of Gateshead Safeguarding Adults Board and Gateshead Safeguarding Children Partnership, and the following local and regional strategies:

• Community Safety Partnership Plan for Gateshead
• Gateshead's Health and Wellbeing Strategy
• Gateshead Homelessness Strategy
• Police and Crime Plan for Northumbria
• Northumbria Police Crime Commissioner's Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy
• North East and North Cumbria Women's Health Programme - Regional Needs Assessment
• Gateshead's Drug and Alcohol Strategy (in development)
• Gateshead's Suicide Prevention Plan (in development)

Our overall vision for this Strategy is to reduce domestic abuse in Gateshead, with the long-term ambition of driving it down as close to zero as possible, and for everyone in Gateshead to thrive by living a life free from abuse.

We recognise that this will be an ongoing goal, but by placing an increased emphasis over the next three years on prevention of domestic abuse and holding perpetrators to account, we aim to begin the process of reducing domestic abuse locally.

It is important to note that this is a Domestic Abuse Strategy rather than an overarching strategy covering all aspects of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).

Domestic abuse has been prioritised because of the higher-than-average prevalence in Gateshead and the explicit statutory duty. At the time of developing this strategy, work is also taking place to develop a new Police & Crime Plan for Northumbria, which is likely to include VAWG as a priority. We propose to develop a VAWG Strategy for Gateshead at the next strategy review (in 2028),
drawing on the Northumbria Police & Crime Plan.

The structure of this strategy follows the national Tackling VAWG Strategy and the Northumbria PCC's VAWG Strategy, based on four strategic aims:

1. Prioritising prevention
2. Supporting victims and survivors
3. Tackling perpetrators
4. Creating a stronger system

System-wide activity for each priority is detailed in the sections below.

Prioritising prevention

We will work together to prevent domestic abuse from happening in the first place.

• prevention can be considered from the perspective of primary, secondary and tertiary interventions:
  • primary prevention is about preventing abuse from happening in the first place
  • secondary prevention is about intervening as early as possible at the first signs of abuse, or when abuse is first reported
  • tertiary prevention, sometimes described as 'stopping bad situations getting worse', is strongly connected to supporting victims/survivors and tackling perpetrators.

Our key strategic aims:

• all children and young people in Gateshead understand healthy relationships and are safe from the harm caused by domestic abuse, and unhealthy relationships and behaviours
• all adults in Gateshead understand and recognise domestic abuse (in all its forms) and its impact on individuals, families and communities
• all professionals working with children and young people in Gateshead can recognise domestic abuse, and unhealthy relationships, and behaviours and respond appropriately and effectively to prevent further harm
• all professionals working with adults in Gateshead can recognise domestic abuse and respond appropriately and effectively to prevent further harm

Supporting victims and survivors

We will improve our response to all victims and survivors of domestic abuse and their access to support across the borough. 

Providing effective support for victim/survivors of domestic abuse can reduce repeat victimisation, and therefore contributes to tertiary prevention. 

Our key strategic aims:

• any child or young person in Gateshead experiencing harm caused by domestic abuse, unhealthy relationships and behaviours, have access to specialist support tailored to their needs
• any adult in Gateshead experiencing domestic abuse has access to specialist support tailored to their needs
• any adult, child or young person in Gateshead experiencing domestic abuse can access the right support, within refuges and other types of domestic abuse safe accommodation, when they need it
• all professionals working with victim/survivors (adults and children) and perpetrators of domestic abuse should have access to robust case management systems and information sharing protocols, to support risk identification and safeguard individuals from harm

Tackling perpetrators

We will hold perpetrators of domestic abuse to account for their behaviour and intervene at the earliest opportunity.

Providing effective interventions for perpetrators reduces repeat victimisation, and therefore contribute to secondary and tertiary prevention.

Our key strategic aims:

• all professionals working with adults in Gateshead can spot signs of abusive behaviour and recognise opportunities for early intervention to prevent further harm
• all professionals working with children and young people in Gateshead can spot signs of unhealthy behaviour and recognise opportunities for early intervention to prevent further harm
• all perpetrators of domestic abuse, and children and young people displaying unhealthy behaviours, should have access to specialist behaviour change support tailored to their needs
• all partners should understand, use and strengthen their legal frameworks (where available) to ensure perpetrators of domestic abuse are held to account for their actions and to reduce reoffending

Creating a stronger system

We will embed a whole system approach to reduce domestic abuse in Gateshead.

The main elements of creating a stronger system relate to governance.

The DAPB is accountable to Gateshead Community Safety Board and has strong connections to the Safeguarding Children Partnership, the Safeguarding Adults Board, the Health and Wellbeing Board and the Strategic Housing Board. 

The DAPB is supported by working groups focused on support for adult victims/survivors, preventing harm to children and young people, tackling perpetrators, performance and data, and domestic abuse and housing.

Our key strategic aims:

• all partners to ensure domestic abuse is a corporate priority, to support the delivery of the Gateshead Domestic Abuse Strategy and Action Plan
• all partners should understand the domestic abuse prevalence and need within their own agency/service and across the Partnership, and be able to respond effectively to emerging trends and the needs of the Gateshead population
• all professionals working with victim/survivors (adults and children) and perpetrators of domestic abuse should have access to robust case management systems to support data collection and monitoring on domestic abuse prevalence, need and outcomes across the Partnership
• all partners should critically reflect on their own service delivery model for victim/survivors (adults and children) and perpetrators of domestic abuse, and that of the Partnership, benchmarking against local, regional and national best practice
• all partners to embed learning and action recommendations from Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews, and appropriately challenge and hold other agencies/services to account where appropriate
• all partners to engage with local communities to raise awareness of domestic abuse, promote specialist services and to listen to the voice of those with lived experience, to ensure we are meeting the needs of the Gateshead population

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 placed a new statutory duty on local authorities to ensure that victim/survivors of domestic abuse and their children can access the right support, within refuges and other types of domestic abuse safe accommodation, when they need it.

Our Safe Accommodation Strategy and related provision outlines the steps needed to meet the statutory duty, in line with government guidance.

Following a needs assessment which investigated the need and demand for domestic abuse provision across housing and homelessness services, we will be recommissioning our domestic abuse safe accommodation within the next 12 months.

This will substantially increase the volume and types of available safe accommodation provision. The strategy also sets out further actions which we will take forward, to address outstanding safe accommodation gaps, within our wider domestic abuse strategic plan.

This includes ensuring we have sufficient safe accommodation units to fully meet our demands, as well as our pathways to enable victims to remain at home where they choose to do so, by increasing access to preventative measures such as Sanctuary Schemes such as sanctuary schemes.

The Action Plan below outlines the key strategic aims of the DAPB under the four 'pillars'. To achieve this ambitious Action Plan, the DAPB sub-groups will act as delivery mechanisms and will provide quarterly progress reports to the DAPB on the key strategic aims.

Strategic aim	Lead
1. Prioritising prevention 'We will work together to prevent domestic abuse from happening in the first place'
All children and young people in Gateshead understand healthy relationships and are safe from the harm caused by domestic abuse, and unhealthy relationships and behaviours	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership Gateshead Safeguarding Children Partnership
All adults in Gateshead understand and recognise domestic abuse (in all its forms) and its impact on individuals, families and communities	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership
All professionals working with children and young people in Gateshead can recognise domestic abuse, and unhealthy relationships, and behaviours and respond appropriately and effectively to prevent further harm	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership Gateshead Safeguarding Children Partnership
All professionals working with adults in Gateshead can recognise domestic abuse and respond appropriately and effectively to prevent further harm	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership
2. Supporting victims and survivors 'We will improve our response to all victim/survivors (adults and children) and their access to support across the borough'
Any child or young person in Gateshead experiencing harm caused by domestic abuse, unhealthy relationships and behaviours, have access to specialist support tailored to their needs	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership Gateshead Safeguarding Children Partnership
Any adult in Gateshead experiencing domestic abuse has access to specialist support tailored to their needs	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership
Any adult, child or young person in Gateshead experiencing domestic abuse, can access the right support, within refuges and other types of domestic abuse safe accommodation, when they need it	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership Gateshead Strategic Housing Board
All professionals working with victim/survivors (adults and children) and perpetrators of domestic abuse should have access to robust case management systems and information sharing protocols, to support risk identification and safeguard individuals from harm	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership
3. Tackling perpetrators 'We will hold perpetrators of domestic abuse to account for their behaviour and intervene at the earliest opportunity'
All professionals working with adults in Gateshead can spot signs of abusive behaviour and recognise opportunities for early intervention to prevent further harm	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership
All professionals working with children and young people in Gateshead can spot signs of unhealthy behaviour and recognise  opportunities for early intervention to prevent further harm	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership
All perpetrators of domestic abuse, and children and young people displaying unhealthy behaviours, should have access to specialist behaviour change support tailored to their needs	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership Gateshead Safeguarding Children Partnership
All partners should understand, use and strengthen their legal frameworks (where available) to ensure perpetrators of domestic abuse are held to account for their actions and to reduce reoffending	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership
4. Creating a stronger system 'We will embed a whole system approach to domestic abuse in Gateshead'
All partners to ensure domestic abuse is a corporate priority, to support the delivery of the Gateshead Domestic Abuse Strategy and Action Plan	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership
All partners should understand the domestic abuse prevalence and need within their own agency/service and across the Partnership, and be able to respond effectively to emerging trends and the needs of the Gateshead population	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership
All professionals working with victim/survivors (adults and children) and perpetrators of domestic abuse should have access to robust case management systems to support data collection and monitoring on domestic abuse prevalence, need and outcomes across the Partnership	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership
All partners should critically reflect on their own service delivery model for victim/survivors (adults and children) and perpetrators of domestic abuse, and that of the Partnership, benchmarking against local, regional and national best practice	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership
All partners to embed learning and action recommendations from Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews, and appropriately challenge and hold other agencies/services to account where appropriate	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership
All partners to engage with local communities to raise awareness of domestic abuse, promote specialist services and to listen to the voice of those with lived experience, to ensure we are meeting the needs of the Gateshead population	Gateshead Domestic Abuse Partnership

We will review the Strategy every 3 years, in line with the statutory duty. The Action Plan is dynamic and will respond to key emerging themes and the needs of the Gateshead population.