A sharp rise in the number of Welsh adults worried about children suffering or witnessing physical violence and emotional abuse in their own home is revealed today.
The NSPCC Cymru findings come after it emerged more than 5,000 people were for convicted for cases of domestic abuse in Wales in 2015-16
Most of the cases the NSPCC Cymru was alerted to by worried people last year were deemed so serious they were referred on to police, social services, or other agencies.
Record number of convictions
Figures from the children’s charity show a 58% increase in the number of people concerned about domestic abuse in Wales, with an average three calls a week to the NSPCC’s helpline last year.
The figures come in the same month as the Crown Prosecution Service revealed that in 2015-16 more than 6,600 people were prosecuted and more than 5,000 convicted for cases of domestic abuse in Wales.
Across the UK there were more than 100,000 prosecutions and 75,000 convictions – the highest figure on record.
In Wales the NSPCC said it had 170 contacts from worried callers in 2015-16 – up from 104 in 2011-12.
In total, over the last five years, 726 calls were taken from adults in Wales worried about children suffering domestic abuse.
Last year 152 cases in Wales, involving 292 children, were deemed so serious by counsellors that they were referred to external agencies such as the police or social services, the NSPCC said.
Across the UK the NSPCC’s free helpline received 3,883 calls in 2015-16 – compared to 2,223 in 2011-12 – from people worried about children living in a dangerous or risky home.
'Devastating impact'
Des Mannion, head of NSPCC Cymru, said: “Home should be a haven for children where they feel safe and loved and encouraged to dream big.Tragically, for many young people in Wales, it is instead a place where they are weighed down by the fear of violence and emotional abuse from those that they care for most.
"We know from Welsh research that the implications of this can have a devastating life-long impact, often resulting in an intergenerational cycle of violence.
“It is vital that we don’t allow children suffering from living in a home plagued by domestic abuse to remain in the shadows.
“Anyone who is either a victim of abuse, suspects it is taking place, or is worried about a child should report their concerns to the police or contact the NSPCC.
"There are people ready to listen and do everything they can to ensure that the children involved get to grow up in a happy environment.”
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