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(Picture: PA Archive)Hundreds of reports of parents and carers being attacked by their teenage or young adult children are received by the Metropolitan police every year, a ground-breaking report revealed Tuesday.
The analysis of child-to-parent violence and abuse – primarily young adult men attacking their mother - unearthed 846 allegations in 2018, 653 in 2019 and 577 in 2020, including a spike when lockdown started.
But it admitted it was “difficult to accurately assess the scale” of threats and violence across the capital as about 40 per cent of victims did not report the incidents due to distrust of police, fear of criminalising their children or suffering retribution.
The report, for City Hall’s violence reduction unit, investigated the extent of so-called CAPVA incidents (Child/Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse) recorded in Met police data.
It aimed to “shine a light” on a little-known problem to direct resources into the area.
It found violence against the person, such as common assault or assault with injury, accounted for 60 per cent of incidents, followed by criminal damage on 25 per cent, normally damage to the family home. Coercion was also seen in the majority of cases.
Experts said incidents involved “spitting, hitting, name calling, destroying property and threats of violence” against parents and siblings.
More than 80 per cent of perpetrators were male, and almost two-third were aged 19-25. More than 70 per cent of victims were female.
Many professionals said victims were “highly reluctant” to report incidents to police. Social services were also mistrusted by some families, and parents or carers feared that children may be removed from their care.
Parents and carers interviewed as part of the study said they only contacted police at crisis point when they felt they had no other choice and were afraid for their physical safety. All said they had suffered multiple incidents of violence before calling the police.
Previous exposure to domestic violence was often linked to attacks. One mother described how her son would copy the way he had seen his abusive father behave towards her.
Croydon (115), Enfield (115) and Tower Hamlets (105) had the highest number of recorded CAPVA offences between 2018 and 2020, though this also reflects higher population levels.
The report found there is no standard definition of CAPVA, which means children under-16 are treated as adult perpetrators of domestic abuse.
As a result, opportunities to understand what drives the behaviour and to intervene are reduced or lost.
Dr Amanda Holt, of the University of Roehampton, one of the co-authors of the report, said: “This report is the first of its kind to offer a really comprehensive analysis of child/adolescent violence towards parents across a particular region – in this case London.
“It highlights the extent of its under-reporting, the reasons why parents and carers don’t come forward, and why a multi-faced and collaborative approach is necessary for any kind of effective intervention.”
Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “It’s crucial we have a joined-up approach to tackling this issue because I want all Londoners, including parents and carers, to have confidence in reporting concerns so that services can intervene much earlier and provide the support families need and deserve.”
Lib Peck, Director of London’s Violence Reduction Unit, said violence and abuse by children towards parents was a “consistent concern”.
She said: “We will use this research to work with others to raise awareness and bring services together to intervene earlier to tackle this form of violence and ensure greater access to support.”
