Child and adolescent to parent violence and abuse

London's Violence Reduction Unit has published new research into child and adolescent to parent violence and abuse (CAPVA) in London.  

The research shone a light on the scale of this underreported and often hidden harm. Analysis shows 40 per cent of parents and carers chose not to report to the police. 

Other findings include:

• the majority of CAPVA cases involve boys in late adolescence and their mothers, and is most likely to be physical violence
• parents/carers interviewed said they only contacted the police at crisis points when they felt they had no other choice and were afraid for their physical safety
• all parents/carers affected said they had experienced multiple incidents of violence before reaching crisis point
• the number of reported incidences fell after 2018, but began rising slightly during the first national lockdown from March-June 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

10 key recommendations are included for how CAPVA can be tackled in London.

The VRU’s response is not to look at children as perpetrators, but to look at the needs of both the young person and the wider family and how support can be accessed.

We are now working with key partners to look at the recommendations and design our next steps for delivering positive and lasting change in this area.