Why children and young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds are falling through the gaps | inTouch

Children and young people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are under-identified and under-served in the family violence sector—not because they experience less violence, but because they face additional barriers to disclosure, recognition and access to support.

Too often, services focus on the adult victim-survivor while children’s experiences of family violence are treated as secondary. Mainstream child and family services may lack confidence in responding to the intersections of language, culture, migration and faith, while specialist multicultural services may support the whole family but have limited child-specific resources.

For young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds, family violence may not present in ways that services immediately recognise. School refusal, anxiety, behavioural changes, caring responsibilities, isolation or fears about immigration status can all be signs of distress connected to family violence.

This panel will explore why children from migrant and refugee backgrounds are falling through the gaps, what gets missed when we fail to see their experiences through an intersectional lens, and what practitioners and services can do differently to ensure children and young people are recognised, heard and supported in their own right.

Register here