ABSTRACT
In this chapter we discuss the barriers and opportunities associated with help-seeking for children who live in homes where there is domestic abuse. The chapter begins by exploring the literature relating to barriers to help-seeking drawing specifically on Overstreet and Quinn's (2013) theory of the Stigmatised Identity. The theory and evidence are then discussed in the context of data provided by adults who were victims of domestic abuse as children. The findings suggest that the barriers faced by children are not dissimilar to those identified by adults, although the child's position is of course compounded by virtue of their age, standing in the community and until recently their peripheral position as merely observers, not victims. The participant reports indicate that there is an urgent need to ensure that professionals and practitioners value the accounts of children and young people and afford them the same credibility they would afford adult victims. Finally, we share the recommendations offered by our participants for how service availability and responses to children could be improved.
