Domestic abuse

Domestic abuse in any format is unacceptable and any incidents reported to us will be dealt with sensitively and with compassion.

What is domestic abuse?

It’s defined as any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or 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.

Examples of domestic abuse include:

• Physical abuse
• Emotional and physical abuse
• Verbal abuse
• Coercive control
• Financial abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Harassment or stalking
• Neglect

How can Raven help with domestic abuse?

Once we’ve been told about an incident, we aim to contact the person experiencing domestic abuse within 24 hours, if it is safe to do so. This contact will be from your Housing Officer or a Welfare Officer. The individual will have a single point of contact dealing with their case.

If you’re a concerned neighbour, please be assured that your report to Raven will remain anonymous. If you have any immediate concerns, please always contact 999.

We’re committed to maintaining confidentiality for all parties involved following a report of a domestic abuse incident and we work with specialist support agencies, such as East Surrey Domestic Abuse Service (ESDAS) and Worth Outreach Services, to support our customers. This includes, but is not limited to, safety measures within an individual’s home.

We have a close working partnership with local domestic abuse charities, IDVAS, the Police and other statutory agencies across Surrey and surrounding authorities.

Should it be necessary we discuss enforcement tools to further protect the individual or household affected, such as injunctions. These methods are available to help safeguard individuals within the current UK legislation.

If you’d like to raise a concern or report domestic abuse, please call us on 0300 123 3399 or raise an enquiry through your MyRaven online account. You can also email welfare@ravenht.org.uk if it’s safe to do so.

For further information about the handling of data and our procedures, please read our domestic abuse policy here and our safeguarding policy here.

Support services

East Surrey Domestic Abuse Service

Web: www.esdas.org.uk/
Email: support@ESDAS.org.uk
Phone: 01737 771 350
Text: 07860 039 720

Worth Domestic Abuse Service (West Sussex)

Email: DomesticAbuseServicesCentral@­westsussex.gov.uk
Phone: 07834 968539 or 033 022 28181