The Insurance Charities sponsors Domestic Abuse Toolkit
The Toolkit has been launched to help insurance employers tackle domestic abuse
Economic impact to business of domestic abuse estimated at £1.9 billion a year
An estimated 1.9 million adults experienced domestic abuse last year and 75% are targeted at their place of work
Employers have a vital role to play in society’s response to domestic abuse; an issue which affects an estimated 1.9 million adults in the UK each year and which can have devastating effects on employees’ lives.
Preventing and tackling domestic abuse is an integral part of the duty of care and legal responsibility employers have in ensuring they provide a safe and effective work environment for their staff.
The Insurance Charities are supporting employers in the insurance sector to tackle domestic abuse by sponsoring a Domestic Abuse toolkit, produced by Business in the Community and supported by Public Health England.
The practical toolkit is designed to sit within HR teams and with line managers to aid those dealing with this sensitive and difficult issue regardless of the size of company.
The Domestic Abuse toolkit will help employers identify the signs that abuse may be happening, such as personality changes, becoming withdrawn, spending a lot of time checking their phone, or arriving at work early and staying late, behaviour that is different and unusual to how they were previously.
According to the Office for National Statistics in 2017 approximately 6 in every 100 adults were a victim of domestic abuse. Such abuse does not discriminate, it can affect anyone.
The Insurance Charities has helped individuals and families who have had to flee from a violent partner and start again with nothing often losing touch with their extended family for fear of being tracked down by their ex-partner. Seeing those who try and start their lives again with little more than a suitcase and helping them through re-establishing their life from scratch has brought home how destructive domestic abuse is for the victims and their dependants.
Having access to resources like the Domestic Abuse toolkit can make this much easier for HR departments to implement, as the framework and guidelines are already provided. There are plenty of other benefits such as retaining staff, creating an open and caring workplace and the cost savings of having a policy already provided. By having workplace guidance, it sends a clear message that abuse is not tolerated and victims will be supported.
Many companies are increasingly understanding of employee’s mental health issues and The Insurance Charities wants to push these boundaries further and make the workplace a safe place to discuss any issue which affects an employee’s ability to do their job.
Annali-Joy Thornicroft, CEO of The Insurance Charities said:
“We have seen a growing number of people coming forward for support as a result of domestic abuse. Such individuals have often hidden what has been happening either at home or in the workplace, for fear of judgement or simply because they do not feel their HR colleagues would know how to best support them”.
To download your copy of the Toolkit
About Charity
The Insurance Charities is the only charity supporting current and former insurance employees and their families across the UK and Ireland.
How do we help?
The charity transforms insurance people’s lives for the better by providing a lifeline to support them with whatever difficulties they may be facing such as redundancy, poor health, domestic abuse, and tragedy.
We can help people throughout their career and beyond with one off and ongoing financial and/or practical support for as long as it’s needed. In 2022/2023 we gave out over £1.3 million to those experiencing financial hardship to help pay for things such as household appliances, school uniform, funeral costs, rehabilitation, and property adaptations. We also work with other organisations such as Aware in Ireland, Shelter UK, and Alzheimer’s Society to provide practical support where needed. Through these fantastic charities we can help those experiencing mild depression and anxiety, assist those with housing concerns, and those affected by dementia.
Did you know?
• It doesn’t matter what role you’ve had working in the sector
• Your application will be treated in the strictest of confidence
• You don’t need to be a member of a professional body or association to access support
• Both working and non-working people can apply
• The charity also supports dependants of insurance employees (past and present) such as children and partners.
We are keen to talk to employers across the industry about how we could support their colleagues so encourage people to get in touch to find out more.