27th August 2025
iHV joins several leading organisations in co-signing The For Baby’s Sake Trust’s open letter to Rt Hon Jess Phillips MP, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls. The letter calls for babies and very young children to be explicitly recognised within the government’s Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy.
Every year, more than 50,000 babies are referred to children’s social care with domestic abuse as a factor. This is not just a statistic; it represents tens of thousands of the youngest members of our society growing up in homes where abuse can shape their earliest experiences.
Why babies must be included
Domestic abuse does not just begin when children are older. Research shows that:
- 30% of domestic abuse begins or escalates during pregnancy
- This rises to 40% in the first 1001 days of life (pregnancy through to age two)
- By the time children start school, at least one child in every class will have been living with domestic abuse since birth
Babies are uniquely vulnerable. Their brains and bodies are developing at an extraordinary speed, and exposure to abuse during this period can have devastating, lifelong consequences. Without early intervention, the ripple effects can include:
- Delays in physical and cognitive development
- Long-term impacts on emotional and physical health
- Missed educational opportunities
- The perpetuation of intergenerational cycles of abuse
If the government is to succeed in its mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, it must begin by protecting those who are most vulnerable – babies in their earliest days of life.
A call for urgent action
The open letter urges the government to ensure that support for families during pregnancy and early childhood is embedded in the VAWG Strategy. This is essential if the government’s wider ambitions, including the Best Start in Life Strategy, are to be realised.
Babies deserve the best start in life. Protecting them from violence and harm is not only a moral imperative but also a vital step in breaking cycles of abuse and building a safer, healthier society for generations to come.
Letter Co-signatories:
- We Are Amity CIC
- Association for Video Interaction Guidance UK
- Baby Bank Alliance
- Better Start
- Dr. Carmen Power, Doctor of Public Health and Psychology
- Institute of Health Visiting
- Make Birth Better CIC
- Parent-Infant Foundation
- SafeLives
- The Breastfeeding Network
- The Foundation for Mother & Child Health
- The White Ribbon Alliance UK
- WWIN (Wearside Women in Need)
- Words Matter
