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Radical plans to end domestic abuse outlined by the CSJ

The CSJ’s long awaited report, Beyond Violence: Breaking cycles of domestic abuse, was launched on Wednesday.

Our review exposed the shocking prevalence of domestic abuse which, in all its forms, affects 2 million people per year.

The report highlights the 1 in 4 child witnesses of domestic abuse who are too often forgotten.  Nearly 3 million children have been exposed to violence and cruelty in the home.

It calls for changes to enforcement to put the law on the side of voiceless victims. The introduction of a new offence, ‘coercive control’ is needed to end harmful mind games and controlling strategies being used in the home.

The report was covered exclusively by the Sunday Telegraph, and co-author Dr Elly Farmer wrote a blog for Conservative Home.


Helping troubled families is about social justice

The Government has identified a group of troubled families in need of significant help to take positive control of their lives. Informed by much of the CSJ's analysis of family breakdown and poverty, Louise Casey, head of the Government’s Troubled Families Unit, was tasked with designing a comprehensive action plan to turn their lives around and last week she published some initial findings.

This group of troubled families, who are often trapped in a cycle of deprivation, cost the tax payer an estimated £9 billion in benefits, crime, anti-social behaviour and health care. The initiative, with a budget of nearly £450 million, will track the progress of social workers who will spend intensive time with families to cut anti-social behaviour, get children back into schools and make sure that parents are on the road to work.

Christian Guy, CSJ Managing Director, appeared on Radio 4’s Moral Maze (20.00) this week to discuss Louise Casey’s report and whether there is a case for such intervention. Supporting the principles of helping families Christian Guy said, ‘This has to be about compassion, social justice, giving these families a chance and no longer writing them off on the social scrapheap’.


Slavery in Britain

The recent conviction of the Connors family highlighted the shocking and devastating effects of slavery in Britain. It revealed that they kept vulnerable people in violent conditions likened to a ‘concentration camp'.

Explaining the scale of slavery in Britain to BBC Radio 4’s Today (52.50), a member of the CSJ’s Slavery Working Group, James Ewins QC, said cases like this are only the 'tip of the iceberg' and stressed that the problem goes much wider.

This followed an excellent Telegraph column by Fraser Nelson, a member of the CSJ's Advisory Council. He called for political heirs to Wilberforce to show leadership: 'Wilberforce may have outlawed the old slavery, but it was the Royal Navy that abolished it. That took muscle, as well as laws – but above all, it took political leadership. Today, there is much the Prime Minister can do. He can start by calling this evil by its proper name'.