UK 
United States
One in every four adults in the UK has experienced domestic abuse.
This gut-wrenching statistic is the kind that stops you in your tracks and prompts you to ask some uncomfortable questions.
Is a family member you know suffering in silence? Have you spoken to a friend whose call for help wasn’t heard? And even, do you work with someone who is a domestic abuse victim – or perpetrator?
The answers to those questions may be equally tough to stomach.
Susan Bright, CEO of the Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse (EIDA), told HR Grapevine that “virtually every workplace will have both victim-survivors and perpetrators in their midst.”
Despite this reality, many companies are not aware of the scale of domestic abuse in the UK, nor the vital role they can play in tackling it.
Susan Bright
CEO, Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse (EIDA)
Bright described support from the country’s employers as “inconsistent,” with small-scale studies indicating roughly two-thirds of employers do not have a formal domestic abuse policy (no recent, country-wide study is currently available.)
Together with HR Grapevine and other prominent HR executives from across the UK, EIDA’s CEO is urging employers who do not have a domestic abuse support framework to take action.
“Domestic abuse is impacting your employees and your organisation right now,” she said. “Implementing an effective domestic abuse response makes business sense. It is also the right thing to do. Employers have the power to change and save lives. “
‘Whole-of-society effort’ – the role of employers in tackling domestic abuse
Bringing down domestic abuse levels in the UK is, as Bright puts it, a “whole-of-society effort.”
Wider action is being taken. In December, the government pledged over £1 billion for victims of domestic abuse to access support and rebuild their lives.
Jo Browning
Chief People Officer, Markel
This included £500 million in funding for a Violence against Women and Girls strategy – the country’s “largest crackdown on violence perpetrated against women and girls in British history” – including specialist training for teachers to help them educate young people on consent and respectful relationships (domestic abuse is a gendered issue, with women nearly one and a half times as likely to be affected.)
But as Bright emphasised, employers also play a “crucial part” in changing the status quo.
One company taking action is specialist insurer Markel, a member of EIDA. It recently rolled out a new ‘Domestic Abuse Support Framework’ for all UK employees. In October, Chief People Officer Jo Browning told HR Grapevine that domestic abuse has “traditionally been under-prioritised” by companies.
