Ground-breaking research into the impact on family members when someone is arrested for accessing indecent images of children has now spun off into a charity that helps families after they receive what is known as 'the knock'.
The work by the University of Huddersfield has been led by Professor Rachel Armitage, and has highlighted the trauma for loved ones of witnessing the arrest of a family member.
Arrests normally take place at the family home when the rest of the family is present, and such is the impact of this that Professor Armitage is calling for the families of those arrested to be reclassified as direct victims in order to receive better support from various statutory and voluntary agencies.
As a response to the research and recognising the trauma and lack of support for families, she has teamed up with several passionate individuals to launch a charity called Talking Forward.
Based in Leeds, it supports families when a loved one is arrested for accessing indecent images of children, from the warrant and through the criminal justice process. It is a period described by those impacted as 'limbo', with the forensic analysis of technology averaging 18 months and sometimes up to three years.
'Families are victims as well'
"There is a re-traumatisation over that period after the knock," says Professor Armitage. "Families of offenders are currently seen as secondary victims, but this excludes them from the support available to direct victims - including anonymity in the media, therapeutic interventions and communication regarding the criminal justice process.
Aftershocks of the knock
"With the introduction of the 2021 Domestic Abuse Act, children are now considered as victims if they have witnessed the effects of domestic abuse. When a child witnesses the warrant, what they see is extremely distressing. This trauma and the 'aftershocks' that follow should lead us to at least consider some parity between the these offence types.
"When a suspect is arrested and Children's Services have conducted safeguarding checks, because the family are unlikely to be direct victims, all support - emotional, financial, physical and any form of advocacy - disappears. Partners are expected to cope with a sudden single-parent status, school, solicitors, social services and many other challenges in a state of trauma. This simply isn't acceptable."
PhD opportunity
The research has also led to an opportunity for a PhD that will see a researcher embedded within Talking Forward to assess the real-world impact of the charity's work with the families who have received 'the knock'. Applications are being taken until 26 May
