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Safeguarding and domestic abuse

If you’re concerned that you or someone you know is experiencing abuse, or if something doesn’t feel right, we’re here to help.

Intro
How to report a safeguarding concern
What is abuse?
What is domestic abuse?
How can we help you with domestic abuse and safeguarding?
Domestic violence, abuse and safeguarding support organisations

How to report a safeguarding concern

To let us know your concerns about safeguarding, you can

contact us through My Account
email our team at reportsafeguarding@citizenhousing.org.uk
call us on 0300 5610 098

If you think someone is in danger or it’s an emergency, always dial 999.

We’ll keep your name and information private, so the person you’re concerned about will not find out. However, we might need to share your name and details with other organisations like the police. They will also keep your information confidential from the person you’re making a report about.

What is abuse?

Abuse can take many forms.

Physical abuse

Sexual abuse

Emotional/psychological abuse

Financial or material abuse

Neglect and acts of omission

Domestic abuse

Discriminatory abuse

Modern slavery

Organisational abuse

What is domestic abuse?

Domestic abuse is a pattern of incidents where an abuser controls their partner, family member or someone else at home with actions that are threatening, degrading, violent or coercive.

It can include sexual violence and any of the types of abuse listed above.

Who can be affected by domestic abuse?

Anyone forced to change their behaviour because they are frightened of their partner, ex-partner or family members’ reaction is experiencing abuse.

Domestic abuse can happen to anyone, regardless of age, background, gender, religion, sexuality or ethnicity.

Statistics show that the majority of domestic abuse is carried out by men and experienced by women. It can happen at any point in a relationship, including after a breakup.

We’re committed to protecting customers affected by domestic abuse, and have domestic abuse officers who work actively to help those at risk.

Our domestic abuse officers lead on our safeguarding cases and have experience managing complex or high-risk cases. They’re trained to offer specialist housing advice, risk assessments, and can provide referrals to expert support if needed.

They will work with the right people to ensure the person at risk is offered the right support.

Tackling domestic abuse

As a housing provider, we’re uniquely positioned to identify signs of domestic abuse and can access the homes of people at risk without raising suspicion to offer support discreetly.

We were one of the first housing associations in the Midlands to introduce a dedicated team focused on tackling this issue.

We’re also signed up to the Chartered Institute of Housing’s Make a Stand campaign supporting social housing customers and staff affected by domestic abuse.