Last month, Torus sponsored and spoke at the Morecrofts Solicitors 2023 Domestic Abuse Conference.

The full-day multi-agency event in Liverpool, provided a valuable opportunity for professionals who encounter domestic abuse in their line of work, including police officers, NHS staff, social workers, lawyers, local government, educational institutions, and housing organisations to come together to learn and get an insight on a wide range professional practices and perspectives on domestic abuse.

Torus Safeguarding Officer, Jo Aston joined colleague, Safe2Speak Team Leader, Anna Lock on stage to talk about ‘Playing our Role: Transforming Torus' Response to Domestic Abuse - Our Journey so Far’, which outlined the important role housing can play in identifying and responding to domestic abuse.

Talking about the importance of attending the event, Jo said:

“As sponsors of the event, we were proud to attend and share all the good work Torus are doing to tackle domestic abuse.

“Domestic abuse is an issue that cuts across all sectors – legal, criminal justice, social care, probation, and housing – but quite often other professionals don’t understand what we do and what support housing can offer victims and their families. The conference was a great way to showcase what Torus do and what we are working towards with the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) accreditation.”

This year’s speakers were exceptional, delegates heard from Luke Hart from CoCoAwareness Ltd, who along with his brother, Ryan are domestic abuse survivor and advocates, whose mother and sister were murdered by their abusive father. Luke gave valuable insight into how insidious coercive control can be and the lengths that his father went to, to control all aspects of family’s life.

Other memorable speakers included Malka Livingstone, a Consultant/Trainer at Malka Livingston Domestic Abuse Training & Consultancy, who spoke about how domestic abuse impacts on pregnancy, unborn children, mothers, babies and young children and retired District Judge, Marilyn Mornington, who shared her experiences of how the courts have dealt with domestic abuse over the years and the battles she has fought to ensure victims including children have a voice within the family courts.

Talking about the learning from the event, Anna commented:

“There was so much to take away from the day including how perpetrators are increasingly using technology to stalk and harass their victims as well as the ‘Ask Ani’ initiative set up by the Home Office, which creates safe spaces within the community for victims to access support.

“The discussions around the impact of domestic abuse on children is incredibly emotive however really emphasises how essential it is that we think about the whole household when talking about domestic abuse, as quite often children are overlooked, and we know that we have to change this in our practice.”

Other speakers included Emma Pickering, Senior Tech Abuse Manager at Refuge, who spoke about the impact of technology-facilitated abuse on children and young people, Dr Jules Carlisle, Lead Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Mersey Care NHS Trust who spoke about trauma informed approach to workforce and supporting colleagues with complex lives and Laura Gribbin, Ask for ANI lead, Policy Advisor, Home Office who gave a breakdown of the UK government’s Ask for ANI codeword scheme.

Jo, concluded:

“Events like this which help raise awareness are so important as domestic abuse is such a huge social issue with two women each week being killed by their ex or current partner in the UK alone. Sometimes we can work in silo and focus on our own individual roles so that was a great way to meet people from all parts of the country in lots of sectors and share ideas and best practice.”

We are already looking forward to attending again in 2024.

Support! Do not suffer in silence

Torus has considerable experience in supporting the victims of domestic abuse so if you or someone you know is affected by abuse, don’t suffer in silence. An experienced and specialist team is available to help. Find out more about domestic abuse support here.