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Children and Young People in Domestic Violence Shelters

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Risk, Protection, Provision and Policy

Part of the book series: Geographies of Children and Young People ((GCYP,volume 12))

Abstract

Many residents of emergency domestic violence (DV) shelters are children and young people accompanying their mothers, with research in some countries finding that the majority of DV shelter residents are children. Residents of emergency DV shelters are there seeking safety from violence in their homes and intimate relationships, and they often lack other financial and social resources that could provide housing and support. Emergency shelters (also known as refuges or havens) were one of the first forms of DV intervention, established by grassroots activists in the 1970s with the goal of providing victims with immediate safety in temporary lodging. This chapter describes children and young people in emergency DV shelters and uses several frameworks, including historical and social, to examine shelters and child experiences within them. The chapter describes the role of shelters in service provision, with details on types of services, programming, the built environment, community locations of shelters, and approaches to facilitating access to schools. Child and youth perspectives on living in the shelter are highlighted. Shelter life presents them with both opportunities and risks. Challenges are discussed related to service provision, the built environment, resources, staffing, gaps in the knowledge base, and preventing root causes of child homelessness and exposure to adult intimate partner violence. The chapter concludes by outlining practices and policies that might mitigate challenges.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Public Policy, Department of Social Work, The University of Texas at San Antonio, 501 W. César Chávez Boulevard, San Antonio, TX, 78207 – 4415, USA

    Amy Chanmugam

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  1. Amy Chanmugam
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Correspondence to Amy Chanmugam .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Claire Freeman

  2. School of Physical, Environmental and Ma, University of New South Wales Canberra, Canberra BC, Australia

    Paul Tranter

  3. Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Tracey Skelton

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Chanmugam, A. (2017). Children and Young People in Domestic Violence Shelters. In: Freeman, C., Tranter, P., Skelton, T. (eds) Risk, Protection, Provision and Policy. Geographies of Children and Young People, vol 12. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-035-3_5

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