At least 40% of child-to-parent violence and abuse incidents are unreported to police, according to research.
The study into the “hidden harm” commissioned by the London mayor’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) found that the rate of violence and abuse against parents and carers was highest among those aged 19-25, and 81% of perpetrators were male.
It found that 89% of victims of recorded incidents such as attacks, coercive control, financial abuse, threats, intimidation and harassment were a parent of the accused. Experts said figures were probably greater than those reported, and were expected to rise.
The research, by the independent consultancy Ecorys, comes after a campaign launched by the mayor last month highlighting the importance of tackling misogyny as a cause of violence against women and girls.
The abuse between adolescents and parents or carers is gendered too: research found that the majority of known cases took place between adolescent boys and their mothers. Violence and abuse inflicted by young women and girls appears to receive a different response and intervention, research found.
Figures reveal that while the number of incidents peaked in 2018, they fell in subsequent years. Only during the first national Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, which exacerbated abusive and violent situations in the UK and internationally, did incidents begin rising slightly.
The research shows that more than two-thirds of the victims were female, and most victims were between the ages of 40 and 54.
Drawing on data from 2011-20, the research found that while there was no single cause of child-to-parent violence and abuse, the issue was often underreported to police due to fears of criminalisation, stigmatisation or the risk of having a child removed from homes. Other factors include cultural and linguistic barriers, and a mistrust of services resulting in patchwork support and resources for families.
One woman included in the report said she felt hopeless: “At one point I called the police and … I saw the police coming and taking my son out of the flat and the other kids were watching. When my son came back, he said, ‘You called the police on your own son.’ That just damaged the relationship.”
In another example, a woman who had been a victim of intimate violence from her previous partner, was not supported by her family when her child became abusive. Her family blamed her for “not being hard enough” on her children.
The analysis adds that while cases occur in families across various communities, ethnicities and socioeconomic status, people from ethnic minorities were overrepresented when compared with the population of London and England.
Without its own legal definition, child or adolescent to parent violence and abuse (CAPVA) is understood as a form of domestic abuse in cases involving young people over the age of 16, meaning those under 16 are at times treated as adult perpetrators.
“It’s crucial we have a joined-up approach to tackling this issue,” said the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. “I want all Londoners, including parents and carers, to have confidence in reporting concerns so that services can intervene much earlier and provide the support families need and deserve.”
