The number of cases of domestic violence is increasing year on year. Last year alone, the police used the institution of evicting a violent person from a shared home in 679 households with minor children - 119 more cases than in 2022, according to statistics from intervention centres for people at risk of domestic violence. In addition, their staff warn that children exposed to domestic violence are at increased risk of violence transmission. A communication campaign called Carousel of Violence advises not only victims but also witnesses or perpetrators of violence on how to stop the imaginary carousel.

"When I was a kid, my dad drank and beat my mom. Then it turned around. My mother started drinking alcohol too, taking advantage of my father's weakness and beating him," Johana, the mother of four-year-old Adélka, who is a victim of domestic violence, recalls her childhood. "Marek is not far from a bottle, then he makes a scandal and beats me. And I've been drinking too. I realise that in all our quarrels our daughter is there too. And that she hides in her room and cries there like I used to," she adds sadly. If the family does not start working intensively with professionals, Johana risks losing her daughter. Her story is just one of the many that workers at the intervention centres meet on a daily basis.

The most recent data on people at risk of violence shows that while there were 1,090 children involved in incidents between parents in 2022, the total number will increase to 1,398 in 2023. This data also states that the Police reported 1,268 violent incidents last year from shared accommodation, 679 of which were from households with children. This is 181 (respectively 119) more violent offenders compared to 2022.

The negative effects of the growing trend of domestic violence are now being highlighted by a campaign of the Association of Intervention Centres of the Czech Republic called Carousel of Violence. It introduces the phenomenon of the so-called transgenerational transmission of violence in partner relationships to professionals and the general public. "Domestic violence is very often transmitted within families from grandparents to parents and then to their children," explains Martina Vojtíšková, chair of the Association. The expert adds that this is caused by the unwanted adoption of bad role models, but also by strong traditional stereotypes and, last but not least, by social pressure from the society around them.

The incidence of transgenerational transmission of violence in Czech families is also confirmed by Petra Šobáňová of SocioFactor, who is conducting qualitative and quantitative research as part of this awareness campaign. "Up to a third of the respondents who have experience with domestic violence said that this violence had already occurred in their family in the previous generation," the lead researcher reveals one of the first results of the research, which her team is still working on. The interim results further suggest that people very often only become aware of transgenerational transmission during more in-depth and longer-term conversations, such as during therapy. "It is very important to work with this aspect so that everyone who is living in a violent relationship can break out of the cycle of violence, whether they are a parent or a child," Vojtíšková from the Association concludes, adding that part of the activities are therefore also directed at educating the interveners themselves - social workers, therapists and other professionals.

Sociofactor's research and the Carousel of Violence campaign are part of the Children of Children Without Violence project. As part of the campaign, the book Family on the Carousel was published, which describes various cases of domestic violence, including comments by experts.

For more information about the project, as well as information on who to contact if you are experiencing or witnessing violence yourself, visit https://www.kolotocnasili.cz/

Financial Mechanism : Norway Grants

Programme: Human Rights