There are fears increasing numbers of children have been exposed to domestic violence during the lockdown, a leading charity warned today.
Coram, which works with the most vulnerable children in society, has seen a spike in the number of calls regarding domestic violence for the first time in two decades.
Chief executive Carol Homden said domestic violence is now one of the top five most asked-about topics when people contact the Child Law Advice Service, which is run by Coram and provides free legal advice and information on child and family issues.
Normally people contact the service, which has been running for 20 years, seeking legal advice about school admissions, access arrangements for children or exclusions from school.
But during lockdown increasing numbers of people have contacted it to say they are worried about children in households where domestic violence is occurring.
She said: “For the first time in our experience domestic violence as a theme has hit the top five.
“Some of the avenues the parent and child might be able to use have not been available to them, such as going to stay with the grandparents or literally just getting out of the house at a particular time when stress was high.
“Many children live in very dense overcrowded conditions.
"The anxiety, financial pressure and consequences of the times are fuelling the stress factors in many families.
"For some children home is not a place of safety.”
In the six months from December to May, 8,000 people downloaded information on domestic abuse from the Child Law Advice Service website.