Understanding Risk and Escalation in Young People’s Relationships

The Rise Report commissioned by Scottish Women’s Aid (SWA) for YWCA Scotland – the Young Women’s Movement – found 36% of young women had been in an intimate relationship with someone who harmed them physically or emotionally.  Fifty seven per cent of respondents said they did not learn about unhealthy relationships or domestic abuse in school.   Whilst services such as Women’s Aid exist evidence shows, regardless of whether they can access adult support, young women are not accessing support from services, turning instead to peers and suggests that young people need a different response to adults.

This session will look at key principles and practice approaches to identifying risk in young people’s relationships, strategies for engaging with young women, promoting healthy relationships and pathways to support.

Participants can expect to:

• Develop an appreciation and understanding of the impact of coercive control and domestic abuse on young people and how it affects their behaviour and choices.
• Be able to identify signs of coercive control and abuse in young people’s relationships and respond to it appropriately.
• Develop understanding of the main issues of providing a sensitive and appropriate service to young women experiencing domestic abuse and coercive control.
• Develop confidence and knowledge to better identify risk, assess protective factors and increase safety.
• Consider how intersectionality may further impact young women experiencing abuse to reduce inequalities and improve outcomes.