ABSTRACT
Social workers and care managers working with all adult user groups, including workers taking referrals from health settings, need training on domestic abuse and how to respond. They may, for example, come across older women who have been subjected to abuse for years, women with disabilities caused by their abuse or which compound the difficulties of escaping from it, women who have developed mental health problems as a result of abuse, or others who misuse alcohol or other substances to deaden its impact. There is no area of practice where a knowledge of domestic violence and skill in working with women to assess and improve levels of safety are not relevant, and no setting in which messages cannot be sent to women-through posters and leaflets in all locally spoken languages, and other means-telling them that they will be taken seriously if they disclose abuse. Social services, as the lead agency for community care, needs to recognise its special responsibility to ensure that the needs of women subjected to men’s violence have been actively considered wherever they may present for help.
