The Care Quality Commission has published a report sharing their findings and recommendations after reviewing incidents related to sexual safety on mental health wards. In 2017, following concerns raised on an inspection of a mental health trust, the CQC carried out a review of reports on patient safety incidents that staff had submitted through the NHS National Reporting and Learning System. We found that many reports described sexual safety incidents, including sexual assault and harassment.

AVA’s resource, Safe and Equal: A Guide on Young People and Meaningful Participation for the Violence Against Women and Girls Sector is now available to download. This guide aims to provide an overview of the issues to consider when undertaking meaningful participation with young survivors of abuse and multiple disadvantage. The guide is primarily for practitioners working within the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) sector but may also be of use to funders and commissioners.

Everyone’s Business is a new innovative cross-partnership programme putting employers at the heart of tackling domestic abuse and providing them with the tools they need to recognise and prevent domestic abuse, be prepared to receive disclosures and actively respond and speedily support employees who are experiencing or perpetrating domestic abuse. To find out more, visit the Hestia website. 

Fees up by 52%, compared to 17% increase in nominal wages. Families left with £4,700 annual shortfalls even after government support.

Working parents with children under five have seen nursery fees rise three times faster than their wages over the past decade, according to new TUC analysis published today (Monday).

The analysis shows that childcare costs have rocketed by 52% per week since 2008 for families with a full-time and a part-time working parent. Over the same period their wages have gone up by just 17%.

Last week, The Independent published a piece on the latest figures regarding the number of children in the UK living in households where they witness domestic abuse. Data published by Women’s Aid shows that while tens of thousands of under-18s witness domestic violence in their homes, provision of support has dropped by 16 per cent since 2010, in what has been described as a “crisis” facing domestic abuse services.