Domestic abuse 1

You will then write a 1,000-word case note that identifies the risks, issues and concerns raised by the victim, as well as actions that need to be taken to support and protect the victim. Interview Transcript You are working for a local charity providing support to victims of domestic abuse. 31-year-old Heather comes in to see you at your weekly drop-in. Heather has 4 children aged 4 months 15 years old. The father to all of them is her partner Matt. Heather tells you that she has been on and off with Matt since she was 15. Whenever they have split up Heather has always remained single, she has never been involved with another man at all. Heather suspects that Matt has cheated on her throughout their time together, but she has never dared to confront him about it. At a recent birthday party Heather overheard a group of lads discussing a girl from the next village called Lisa. They were joking about the fact that Matt only had to look at Lisa and she got pregnant. When Matt saw that Heather had overheard this, he got so angry he dragged Heather home and smashed her head against the front door. Heather blamed his extreme behaviour on him being coked up again. When you ask Heather if Matt has ever hurt her like this before, she tells you that for the first few years of their relationship he was very controlling, in that he didnt like her seeing her friends or talking to other men, but he didnt get really violent until she fell pregnant with her son. Since then, he has regularly beaten her up, threatened her with kitchen knives, and choked her until she passes out. Her children have often seen this happening and have always hidden away in their bedrooms. More recently Matt got angry (Heather cant explain why) and he, and her children, cut up all of her clothes as a funny game to make Mummy laugh. Heather tells you that the children have not been affected by the things they have seen. Heather tells you that throughout her time with Matt, he has stopped her from seeing her friends, caused her to move away from her family, and stopped her from having a job. He has always told her she doesnt need to work as he can look after her he earns good money as a Fire Safety Officer for the local Fire Service. Despite this, Matt has not given Heather any money for the bills or basic necessities for over a year. They now owe a lot of money to the landlord, who is threatening to evict them. She has had bailiffs turn up at her house for unpaid credit cards and payday loans. Both of their names are on the tenancy agreement, but Matt always jokes that to get him to pay rent they would have to find him first. Heathers youngest child is 4 months old. Due to complications during her labour she had to have an emergency C-section. Within a week of having the baby Matt started pestering Heather for sex. She said no because she was still in pain from her C-section, and she wasnt on the pill. Matt made her have sex with him anyway. Afterwards he acted as though everything was normal and came home the next day with a bunch of flowers and chocolates he told her this was because he had noticed she wasnt herself and had been snapping at the children a lot, so he thought she needed cheering up. He told her that if she felt frumpy because of her weight then he would buy her the new exercise DVD that had just come out. Heather tells you that things came to a head the other night when her eldest son, Bradley, shouted at Matt for being mean to Heather. Matt threw a vase of flowers at Bradley and stormed out of the house. Heather has said that she doesnt want to be with Matt anymore and wants him to leave her alone. She is scared and doesnt know what to do because in the past Matt has told her that if she ever tried to leave him, he would kill her and take their children. Other times, he has told her that he should just take the children anyway as they would be better off without her. She has never spoken to anyone of these issues before. Identify the issues that Heather faces and write a comprehensive case note for her file identifying what her options are, what possible issues could arise from exercising those options, the process she would have to go through, how you have communicated these options to Heather and the actions you have taken. You also need to identify the relevant legislation/schemes that provide definitions/remedies.