We believe that everyone has the right to live free from fear of abuse or violence.
We know that domestic abuse can be experienced by anyone, regardless of gender, age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership and pregnancy or maternity differences. Although it can happen to anyone, we acknowledge the gendered nature of domestic abuse and that it disproportionately affects women and girls.
In November 2023 the Office for National Statistics reported that between March 2022 and March 2023 an estimated 4.4% of people aged 16 years and over (5.7% women and 3.2% men) experienced domestic abuse in 2023 in England and Wales. This equates to an estimated 2.1 million adults (1.4 million women and 751,000 men).
We believe that as a local authority and housing provider, we are best placed to recognise and respond to domestic abuse. We have a duty to support our tenants in social housing by training our staff to identify domestic abuse and respond appropriately.
We recognise that there are many barriers to disclosing domestic abuse and certain characteristics may make someone more vulnerable to abuse, such as a physical disability, a language barrier, immigration status. We want to reassure our residents, tenants, leaseholders, and members that any concerns they raise will be met with an empathetic and appropriate response. City Of York Council will recognise the need to take these barriers in to account when responding to domestic abuse and offering support services to victims and survivors.
This policy acts in the intention of reducing the risk of domestic abuse and outlines how we will respond to domestic abuse when it affects our residents, tenants, leaseholders, and members. The policy details the support we will provide to those victims and survivors of domestic abuse. We take a zero-tolerance approach to domestic abuse and this policy outlines how we will hold perpetrators of abuse accountable for their actions.