About
This campaign was created by an adult survivor who grew up in a household with domestic abuse. Many of us weren’t hit or sexually abused — but we still lived in fear, witnessed violence, were controlled, gaslit, and belittled. We didn’t know how to name it then. Sometimes, we still struggle now.
But what we experienced was real. It was harmful. And it was abuse. For years, the law has failed to recognise children who grow up in abusive homes. Our experiences of fear, control, and trauma remain invisible.
What’s the problem?
1 in 5 children in the UK grow up in homes with domestic abuse according to Refuge.
Right now in England and Wales, the law gives adult survivors of childhood emotional or psychological abuse in domestic settings no route to recognition. Unless the abuse was physical or sexual, we remain invisible.
Even when survivors go to the police, the common response is: “There’s nothing we can do — too much time has passed.”
We are asking for change to validate what we lived through, protect future victims, and help us heal.
What we’re asking for
Recognition in law: Amend the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 so adult survivors of non-physical childhood abuse in domestic settings are formally recognised as victims.
Justice without time limits: End arbitrary time bars. Survivors who disclose emotional or psychological abuse in adulthood must not be told it is “too late.”
Guidance and safeguarding: Statutory guidance for police, CPS, and frontline services to record and respond to disclosures, with trauma-informed routes to justice such as personal impact statements or safeguarding action.
Join the movement and sign the open letter. We deserve justice too.
A note on our name
We know the law still fails far too many people living with domestic abuse. And we’re clear: the overwhelming majority of those victims are women. The system continues to let them down — in family courts, in criminal justice, and in access to support.
This campaign isn’t here to distract from that truth — it stands alongside it. We’ve called ourselves #NotJustMum because while we fight for recognition of the children who lived in abusive homes, we also acknowledge that the law still isn’t doing enough for women who are being abused directly.
This is about all of us — but it starts with listening to those who’ve been silenced.
