Domestic abuse services

Walking away is not an easy option for many victims of domestic abuse or violence, and instead they struggle to live their lives in the face of persistent danger. As well as suffering direct hurt and abuse, there are other effects on victims:

  • Some will stop working or are not allowed to go out to work by their abuser, or are prevented from seeing friends, family or the wider community.
  • The children of victims frequently miss school and experience violence themselves or witness it at home.
  • Well-supported victims are usually more willing to seek help earlier, making it easier to stop the violence escalating.

How Victim Support helps

We provide a robust, professional and consistent support service to all victims of domestic violence, including specialist support for young victims, male victims and those suffering domestic abuse within same-sex relationships.

We work with specialist domestic violence organisations and the police, and we also employ the largest number of Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVAs) across England and Wales.

Our staff work alongside domestic violence-trained volunteers and caseworkers, many of whom have first-hand experience of being a victim of crime, to support victims of domestic violence.

All victims referred to Victim Support are assessed using the CAADA DASH (Domestic Abuse, Stalking and ‘Honour’-based Violence) risk assessment tool – endorsed by government as the ‘gold standard’ assessment tool.

We are the oldest victims’ charity in the world, with nearly 50 years’ experience of supporting and working with people affected by crime.

We are a trusted partner and work closely with local organisations and communities, local and national agencies, local and national government, and other third-sector organisations to deliver effective, victim-centred services that give people the support they need to move beyond the impact of crime.

Our domestic violence training and support and supervision procedures have been developed in partnership with SafeLives (CAADA), and we use highly trained volunteers to support high-risk victims of domestic violence. This ensures we can always offer domestic violence victims a safe service, even in areas where there is no specialist IDVA service.

If you’ve been affected by domestic violence and would like information or support, you can get in touch by:

If English is not your first language and you’d like support, call our Supportline and let us know which language you speak. We’ll call you back with an interpreter as soon as possible. We also welcome calls via Relay UK and SignLive (BSL).