Riverside Scotland recognises that Domestic Abuse (DA) cuts across all sectors of our society, irrespective of social class, economic status, ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation. The impacts of DA can be long lasting and have devastating impacts on survivors and their families. This policy sets out how we view Domestic Abuse and how we will respond to reports of Domestic Abuse or cases where domestic abuse is suspected. This policy applies to Riverside Scotland with Riverside England and Wales having its own Domestic Abuse policy. In cases involving Riverside Scotland staff experiencing Domestic Abuse, we will follow our Domestic Abuse Staff Policy, Wellbeing Policy, offer tailored support and signpost to external agencies where appropriate.

1.2 Definition of Domestic Abuse

We adopt the nationally agreed definition of Domestic Abuse which was expanded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 and is:

‘Any form of physical, verbal, sexual, psychological or financial abuse which might amount to criminal conduct, and which takes place within the context of a relationship.

The relationship will be between partners (married, cohabiting, civil partnership or otherwise) or ex-partners. The abuse can be committed in the home or elsewhere including online.”

Physical abuse includes but not exclusive to:

All types of assault and physical attacks or harm like hitting (including with objects), punching, kicking and burning – or the threat of physical harm.

Sexual abuse includes:

Forcing you to have sexual intercourse (rape) or forcing you to engage in sexual acts (sexual assault). Sexual harassment, including unwanted sexual comments. Being recorded in sexual activity without permission & this may be shared or threatened to share without permission, preventing from accessing birth control or accessing sexual health services.

Mental/emotional abuse includes:

Threats (including threats of violence); criticism and name calling; controlling what you do, where you go and who you speak to; threatening your children, isolating you from friends and family; accusing you of being unfaithful; threatening to ‘out’ your sexual orientation to family, friends or work or to reveal your HIV/AIDS status. Gaslighting & making someone question their own perceptions of situations, victims often say they ‘feel like they’re going crazy’, shifting the blame to victims & making them believe they ‘caused’ the abuse, presenting insults as a joke, the ‘silent treatment’, suggesting the victim is mentally unstable.

In addition, abuse amongst ex-partners and those who are not cohabiting is also recognised by us, along with Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Forced Marriage and Honour based violence.

Economic/financial abuse includes:

When a person interferes with their partner’s ability to acquire, use and maintain economic resources. It can include the restriction, exploitation or sabotage of a person’s housing, food, clothing, transportation, employment, and education. Economic abuse can take many forms including: retaining the victim’s salary or giving an ‘allowance’, forbidding access to work or education, restricting access to private and/or shared bank accounts, and convincing or forcing to take on debt on behalf of the abuser, among many others.

Coercive control includes:

Being told where to go and what to wear or being isolated from friends and family. Behaviour can be hard to spot and is often very subtle, such as; constant criticising, extreme dominance over a person & their freedom of movement, monitoring daily activities, threatening suicide/homicide such as ‘I’ll kill myself if you leave me’, using children as a means of control, criticising parenting or shaming in front of them & turning them against them, making false allegations to family & friends, preventing them from accessing health care or support, manipulating information to professionals such as GP/Police, coercing in to sexual activity, drugs or breaking the law, breaking down confidence and sense of self.

Stalking and harassment includes:

Any unwanted & persistent behaviours like being repeatedly followed or spied on, being regularly given unwanted gifts or receiving unwanted communication. Can take place in person and online too.

Technology-facilitated abuse includes:

Having messages and emails monitored or deleted, constantly being sent messages or calls, or being tracked via device location. This can include publishing content encouraging to harm, threats to share confidential or embarrassing content and impersonating a victim. Controlling their use of social media & make them delete friends for example.

This policy covers any customer or other person over 16 who resides in a property owned or managed by Riverside Scotland, and any other person who may contact us for assistance or those we suspect are experiencing Domestic Abuse.

Accessibility

We will support those who are experiencing Domestic Abuse irrespective of age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion, sex or sexual orientation, in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.

We will ensure residents and agencies are able to report Domestic Abuse in a variety of ways and each report will be investigated thoroughly.

Reports will be acknowledged within one working day and a safe method of contact/ongoing communication will be established at the first point of contact. Individuals can self-refer for support. We will also investigate reports of suspected Domestic Abuse reported to us by neighbours or contractors. Such reports will be dealt with using high levels of tact and discretion.

We can provide interpreting and translation services where needed. We will give people experiencing Domestic Abuse the opportunity to have a staff member of a specific gender deal with their case where necessary.

Confidentiality

We will deal with all reports of Domestic Abuse in a non-judgemental, sympathetic manner and in confidence.

We will work collaboratively with partner agencies, in line with Local Information Sharing Agreements (LISAs) to provide coordinated, meaningful responses and support to those living with or fleeing Domestic Abuse.

We will arrange for interviews to be held at safe locations away from the customers home or our offices where a person feels able to speak freely where necessary. Information concerning Domestic Abuse cases will be stored securely on our case management system.

We will ensure GDPR is adhered to and the customers right to privacy is respected at all times. We will only take action with the consent of the victim. Exceptions to this would be where we consider a child to be at risk or if there is a high risk of serious harm to anyone involved.

If this is found to be the case, the victim will be informed of what action we will take and who we will be sharing their information with, such as police and local authorities, including invoking our internal Safeguarding procedures where a case highlights a safeguarding concern.

Empowering our customers

We will manage our customers’ expectations from the outset and explain what our next step will be at each stage of the process. The needs and wishes of the customer will be at the forefront of our decision making. We will empower our customers to make informed decisions about their own future. We will be patient and understand that each victim/survivor will make changes in their own time. We will support this and ensure customers know that they are always able to return to the service in future if they need assistance. We will support our customers in making a report to the Police and can make a report on their behalf, with their consent, if they are too fearful to make a report themselves. We will make referrals to relevant internal teams for additional support to provide a holistic approach (for example, money advice and tenancy sustainability).

Partnership collaboration

We will establish links with local Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARAC) and Multi Agency Safeguarding Hubs (MASH) to ensure we are kept up to date with cases where our customers have been identified as high risk of murder or serious harm resulting from Domestic Abuse. We will work with partner agencies such as Police Scotland, Crime Commissioners offices, fire service and regional police forces where necessary to improve security at a customers’ home and offer tailored safety planning advice depending on the identified risks. We will attend multi agency meetings as requested. Including but not limited to, Strategy meetings, Child in Need meetings and Child Protection Conferences. We will encourage our customers to engage with support services and promote the benefits of them doing so.

Interventions

We will work with partner agencies to improve the safety and security of our properties where we are aware of incident/s of Domestic Abuse. Target hardening, additional security measures such as lock changes, rechargeable repairs or a potential move will be considered on a case-by-case basis and will be led by the risks identified. We will liaise with Local Authorities as appropriate when a customer is to be rehoused via a different Local Authority. We will liaise with pre-approved contractors carrying out target hardening measures to our properties on behalf of Local Authorities via Police Scotland. We will have clear processes in place with such organisations to allow prompt referrals to be made to us for ongoing support.

Action against perpetrators

We may take tenancy enforcement action against perpetrators of Domestic Abuse where it is appropriate to do so. This will only be done if it does not compromise the safety of the victim/survivor. In cases of intentional damage caused to our property, we may provide a statement to Police to assist with criminal proceedings against a perpetrator of Domestic Abuse. We will liaise with specialist partner agencies to encourage our customers who are perpetrators of Domestic Abuse to seek support for their behaviour and signpost accordingly.

Information and Training

We will ensure that employees of Riverside Scotland, especially those in customer facing roles, including contractors, receive appropriate training on how to recognise the signs of Domestic Abuse and have a clear pathway to promptly refer a customer for Domestic Abuse support. We will raise awareness of Domestic Abuse across the organisation and in our communities via newsletters, our online platforms including social media and external website and through engaging with local domestic abuse services. Our call centre staff will be trained on how to engage with a caller who contacts us to report that they are a victim of Domestic Abuse, or report concerns they have for another person. Staff will be aware of what information they need to obtain at this critical stage to establish safe contact with the person going forward. We will be able to identify specialist support services for a range of customers depending on their circumstances and characteristics (for example, male survivors of Domestic Abuse, those fleeing honour-based abuse and customers from our LGBTQI+ community) Best practise advice, process maps and referral pathways will be kept up to date on Riversides internal staff intranet, making information accessible for all colleagues to get further information and/or refer to the service.

Safeguarding

We are committed to safeguarding our customers. Staff receive mandatory training which includes how to identify signs of possible domestic abuse and factors which may increase risk such as pregnancy or substance abuse. When Domestic Abuse is disclosed, we will be clear about confidentiality and our safeguarding obligations, both internally as an organisation and explain the role of the Local Authority and Police. If staff suspect something isn’t quite right and they are concerned about possible abuse, but this has not been disclosed staff should discuss their concerns with their Line Manager immediately for suporting advice.

Riverside documents associated with this policy

• Domestic Abuse Procedure
• ASB Policy and Procedure
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy
• Safeguarding Children Policy Safeguarding
• Adults Policy Modern Slavery Statement
• Hate Crime Policy
• Data Protection Policy
• Complaints Policy

Relevant legislation and guidance

• Housing (Scotland) Act 2001
• Housing (Scotland) Act 2014
• Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2011
• Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 Part 1 & Part 2
• Equality Act 2010
• Human Rights Act 1998