Media Report
New Policy Paper Highlights Structural Failures in Domestic Abuse Safeguarding
Media Report: New Policy Paper Highlights Structural Failures in Domestic Abuse Safeguarding
By Samantha Avril-Andreassen
Founder – SAFECHAIN™
Policy Research Release | 2026
A major new policy paper released by SAFECHAIN™ has raised urgent concerns regarding structural weaknesses within Britain’s domestic abuse safeguarding systems, arguing that institutional fragmentation across policing, courts, healthcare, housing, and social care continues to undermine survivor protection and procedural fairness.
The paper argues that domestic abuse should no longer be viewed solely through the lens of criminal justice, but rather as a complex cross-institutional safeguarding challenge requiring coordinated governance, integrated systems, and operational safeguarding continuity across multiple agencies.
Authored by Samantha Avril-Andreassen, founder of SAFECHAIN™, the report explores how fragmented safeguarding systems may leave survivors navigating disconnected institutional environments during periods of extreme vulnerability, trauma, housing insecurity, and financial instability.
Britain’s Fragmented Safeguarding Landscape
Domestic abuse survivors frequently engage with several public institutions simultaneously, including:
police services,
family courts,
healthcare providers,
housing authorities,
safeguarding teams,
and social services.
Each institution operates under different statutory duties, procedural systems, technological infrastructure, and governance frameworks.
The report argues that this fragmentation creates a safeguarding visibility problem, where critical information remains siloed across agencies rather than forming a coherent institutional picture of harm.
As a result:
trauma may be repeatedly disclosed,
coercive control patterns may remain partially visible,
safeguarding chronology may become fragmented,
and institutional responses may lack coordination.
The report identifies this as one of the defining safeguarding governance challenges of modern Britain.
Coercive Control and Institutional Recognition
The policy paper places particular emphasis on coercive control and psychological abuse, arguing that institutional systems continue to struggle operationally when abuse presents through:
intimidation,
isolation,
financial restriction,
surveillance,
reputational manipulation,
and long-term behavioural domination rather than isolated physical violence.
The paper references the widely publicised case of Sally Challen, which contributed significantly to public understanding of coercive control and psychological abuse within domestic relationships.
However, the report argues that while public awareness has advanced considerably, institutional recognition within adversarial legal systems remains inconsistent, particularly where abuse unfolds gradually over extended periods rather than through discrete incidents.
Financial Abuse and Litigation Tactics
A substantial section of the report examines economic abuse and financial manipulation within domestic abuse contexts.
The research highlights how abuse may continue after separation through:
financial restriction,
strategic debt accumulation,
asset concealment,
procedural attrition,
and prolonged litigation tactics within family court proceedings.
The report argues that financial abuse remains one of the least publicly recognised dimensions of domestic abuse safeguarding despite its profound long-term consequences for:
housing security,
mental health,
procedural participation,
and economic stability.
The paper further suggests that prolonged litigation itself may sometimes operate as a continuation of coercive control where procedural imbalance, financial asymmetry, and disclosure opacity create ongoing pressure upon the more vulnerable party.
Trauma, Mental Health, and Suicide Risk
The report also highlights the growing body of evidence linking domestic abuse with:
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),
anxiety,
depression,
long-term trauma,
and suicide risk.
The paper argues that domestic-abuse-related suicides may remain under-recognised within national safeguarding analysis because many systems do not consistently record the relationship between domestic abuse and mental health deterioration.
SAFECHAIN™ therefore proposes greater integration of trauma-informed mental health indicators within safeguarding and risk-assessment environments.
The report argues that safeguarding systems cannot effectively respond to vulnerability if trauma-related deterioration remains procedurally invisible.
The Scale of Domestic Abuse in Britain
Drawing upon national statistics from the Office for National Statistics, the report highlights the continuing scale of domestic abuse across England and Wales.
According to the data cited:
approximately 2.1 million people experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2023,
including approximately 1.4 million women,
while police recorded more than 850,000 domestic-abuse-related crimes during the same period.
The paper argues that these figures demonstrate domestic abuse remains one of Britain’s most significant safeguarding and public protection challenges.
Proposed Policy Reforms
The SAFECHAIN™ report proposes several structural reforms designed to strengthen safeguarding integrity and institutional coordination across domestic abuse systems.
Integrated Safeguarding Infrastructure
The paper calls for the development of secure, interoperable safeguarding systems enabling stronger coordination between:
police,
healthcare providers,
courts,
housing authorities,
and social services.
The objective is to preserve safeguarding continuity while reducing fragmentation across institutional environments.
Trauma-Informed Justice Systems
The report also recommends expanded trauma-informed training for:
judges,
barristers,
solicitors,
housing officers,
safeguarding professionals,
and court staff.
The paper argues that understanding trauma-related communication and participation difficulties is essential for ensuring procedural fairness within adversarial legal environments.
Financial Transparency and Disclosure Integrity
SAFECHAIN™ further proposes stronger financial disclosure mechanisms within family court proceedings to address concerns surrounding:
asset concealment,
financial opacity,
disclosure asymmetry,
and economic abuse.
The report argues that safeguarding systems cannot fully protect vulnerable individuals where resource visibility itself becomes procedurally obscured.
Recognition of Suicide and Mental Health Risk
The paper recommends greater safeguarding recognition of:
mental health deterioration,
trauma escalation,
and suicide risk within domestic abuse contexts.
This includes integrating trauma-informed mental health analysis within safeguarding assessment frameworks.
A Structural Governance Challenge
The report concludes that domestic abuse safeguarding must increasingly be understood as a governance and systems-coordination challenge rather than solely a criminal justice issue.
Its central argument is clear:
safeguarding systems cannot function effectively where institutional fragmentation prevents coherent recognition of vulnerability across agencies.
The paper therefore calls for a decisive shift:
from fragmented safeguarding toward institutional continuity,
from siloed responses toward interoperability,
and from procedural visibility gaps toward integrated safeguarding governance.
According to SAFECHAIN™, safeguarding systems must evolve beyond isolated institutional responses and toward coordinated public protection infrastructure capable of preserving:
continuity,
participation,
trauma awareness,
accountability,
and operational safeguarding integrity across complex multi-agency environments.
© 2026 Samantha Avril-Andreassen. All rights reserved. SAFECHAIN™, Participation Integrity™, Documentation Continuity™, The Intelligent Repository™, Justice Behind the Veil™, and all associated safeguarding frameworks, governance structures, methodologies, operational models, compliance architecture, educational systems, and institutional concepts are protected intellectual property.