Businesses asked to support services for abused parents

A fifth of abused parents are being forced out of the workplace as a result of their home situation.

That’s the finding from social enterprise PEGS, set up to raise awareness and support those impacted by Child to Parent Abuse (CPA).

CPA is physical, financial, emotional or sexual abuse directed towards a parental figure by a child of any age (including adult offspring). Violent or abusive incidents can happen weekly or even daily, and often escalate over time.

PEGS found an additional 48% of parents had reduced their hours because of the abusive behaviour their child was displaying – meaning 70% in total had their career impacted by CPA.

Now the PEGS team is asking businesses to consider supporting them, so they can extend the number of parents, carers and guardians they can work with.

They’ve already helped 2,000 people in the last two years through advocacy, one-to-one, empowerment workshops, and peer support – but with CPA occurring in at least 3% of UK homes according to expert estimates, there are many thousands more who are going through this abuse alone.

Founding Director Michelle John, who was motivated to launch PEGS due to her own experience of CPA, said: “This type of domestic abuse has traditionally been under-researched and under-reported; but the reality is that it’s happening behind many closed doors, and it’s impacting parents in every aspect of their life including their employment.

“That’s why we want to bring businesses on board to become part of the solution – by asking them to give what they can to help us provide free services for all parents, regardless of the age of their child (including adult offspring).

“We know times have been tough and that many businesses have struggled during the pandemic. But we also know that the abuse our parents are facing has also worsened over that time, so it’s essential that they have somewhere to turn where they’ll be listened to, believed, and empowered.”

Employers who are committed to minimising the impact of CPA can also sign a DWP-backed Covenant, created by PEGS with the aim of seeing more UK organisations setting up policies and practices to the benefit of staff (and service users, where applicable) who are experiencing abuse.

Businesses receive information, template HR documents, and a one-hour free training workshop after signing the free Covenant at www.pegsupport.co.uk/CPAC.

Any organisation who’d like to find out more about making a one-off or ongoing donation – and how that money will be put to good use – can do so by emailing [email protected] or by simply making a direct donation to pegsupport.enthuse.com/donate#!/