Healthy Relationships and Domestic Abuse
What is a healthy relationship?
Throughout life we develop relationships with lots of different people including close friends, boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s and groups of friends from school or where we live and online.
Healthy relationships are about respecting each other, feeling comfortable and treating each other equally.
In a healthy relationship, you should always feel safe and respected, you should be able to be yourself not pretend to be someone else, you shouldn’t feel controlled or pressured by anyone and you shouldn’t feel threatened or frightened.
Domestic Abuse
Domestic abuse is the use of power and control in an intimate or family relationship.
Domestic abuse can be in many forms including physical violence (e.g. slapping, pushing, kicking, punching), psychological or emotional abuse (e.g. verbal abuse and humiliation), financial control (e.g. withholding money, making all of the financial decisions) and coercion or threats (e.g. not allowing friends to visit, restricting of phone calls).
Domestic violence teaches children and young people negative things about relationships and how to deal with people.
It can teach them that violence is acceptable conflict resolution, they develop secretive behaviours, children and young people can develop trust issues with those around them and can have a negative impact on their future relationships.
Even after a very short time of being exposed to domestic abuse, Children can become frightened, withdrawn, start bedwetting, they may run away, become aggressive, develop behavioural difficulties and problems with school.
The longer the child is exposed to domestic abuse, the more severe the effects.
If you are worried about domestic abuse there are some organisations that can help:
- Buckinghamshire Children’s Services have a team that are there to help you. You can also discuss any concerns by contacting First Response.
First Response Team
Telephone: 01296 383 962
Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5.30pm
Friday 9am to 5pm - If you need an urgent response outside of these hours, contact the Emergency Duty Team (EDT) on 0800 999 7677
- Disrespect Nobody is a site for young people providing information about domestic abuse in teenage relationships.
- Visit Rape Crisis or call 0808 802 9999 to find out how to get help if you’ve experienced rape, child sexual abuse and/or any other kind of sexual violence and details of your nearest Rape Crisis services; information for friends, partners, family and other people supporting a sexual violence survivor; information about sexual violence for survivors, students, journalists and others.
The Buckinghamshire Domestic Abuse Board has its own website Bucks Domestic Abuse Partnership website
The website is a multi-language one stop shop for everyone. It offers a range of information and support options for victims of abuse, their friends and families, together with a toolkit and guidance for professionals including the Bucks domestic abuse referral pathway.