Supporting Students' Success

Domestic abuse may not be a term we would associate with universities, but according to the ‘Domestic Abuse Policy  Guidance  for  UK Universities’ by Dr Roxanne Khan, over 185,000 UK university staff and students suffer domestic abuse or violence every year — a staggering number.

The cross-government definition of domestic violence and abuse is: "Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality."

Fleeing such abuse can result in young people studying at university without the support and sometimes also without the approval of a family network. Such students often have no contact with their family. Research from Ipsos MORI suggests that 1 in 5 families in the UK will be affected by estrangement.

Experience of domestic abuse may also result in a student…