Pandora Project offers advice, support and information to adults and children affected by domestic abuse in Norfolk. The organisation received a grant from Rosa Stand With Us fund grant was awarded to the team to develop a 5-year strategy, conduct a governance audit and offer training for Trustees and to improve the charity’s infrastructure and strategic focus. Here, we speak to the organisation’s chief executive, Tracy, about the impact of domestic abuse on children during the pandemic.
How have you adapted your support for children experiencing domestic abuse?
We have supported many children through anxiety, fear, isolation and helped them to cope with their emotions. We have battled through and continued to offer support with phone calls, video calls and texts however, this doesn’t have the same impact as sitting in the room with the child. It took some getting used to because there’s always the worry that someone else is listening in to their conversations.
What are some of your main challenges?
The major challenges have been that children need face to face contact. On calls, the children hold back and are very distracted by a noise, a phone in the background or a message they receive, so the session isn’t as impactful as it could be. We can’t read their body language by just looking at their face, so we trust the children are giving us an accurate account of their life currently. We might be the one person that checks in on them to make sure they are safe and ok. Or we might be the one person who asks how they feel on that day and if they wish to share their concerns and anxieties about anything that is going on at home. We look out for safeguarding concerns and signposting to relevant agencies who can offer further support.
What difference has Pandora Project made to children affected by domestic abuse?
For a short time, when schools resumed, it felt great to visit the children in school, their safe place. The one place they feel able to offload their emotions, knowing that no one will walk in the room whilst they are sharing their hurt and anguish, from what has happened in the past or what is going on right now. Knowing that they can shout, cry and voice their own words without someone telling them what they can and cannot say and taking away the worry about offending or upsetting a parent who is listening behind a door. The emotional release means so much to these children. We may be the one person that they confide in, the one person they trust and who they know will support them to deal with such difficult emotions.
They hear the hype of the news and social media, they fear passing on to relatives, they are scared of losing people, worried that someone they know may die if vulnerable. They feel so much pressure to keep themselves and their families safe. So much stress about completing schoolwork at home, poor internet connection, lack of resources such as laptops, and not having a teacher near by to ask any of those difficult questions that need answering.
Not only have we supported children around their domestic abuse experiences, we have been confidants, supporters, advisers, encouragers. We’ve offered praise, reassurance, confidentiality and hope that we all get through this worrying time.
Visit Pandora Project’s website and follow @PandoraProjectN on Twitter.