A website providing information for armed forces families affected by domestic abuse was launched at a London ceremony on Tuesday (March 3).

Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans, and MP Anna Soubry was the guest speaker at the event, held at the Ministry of Defence building in Whitehall. She joined senior military and civilian officers and support services at the launch, organised by the North East Hampshire Domestic Abuse Forum.

Anna Soubry said: “While we know that domestic abuse is no more prevalent in the Armed Forces than in any other community, it is a terrible crime in any walk of life.

“This website is a valuable resource that will help to raise awareness so that anyone in the Service community who is experiencing violence – or knows someone else who is – will know how to seek help and have the confidence to do so. This is further evidence of this government’s commitment to ensuring the entire Armed Forces community gets the best support possible.”

The web-based guidance and support resource will provide information about domestic abuse, as it specifically affects those within and supporting the armed forces community. It will enable those directly affected by domestic abuse to understand more about options available to them, and will also enable civilian support services to understand more about working alongside military support services to provide the best possible support for families and keep them safe.

Karen Evans, of the North East Hampshire Domestic Abuse Forum, said: “Domestic abuse can affect anyone, and has not been found to be any more or less prevalent within the armed forces than in any other community. For some families though, within the armed forces community, there may be specific concerns they have about seeking help to address domestic abuse. This resource aims to provide answers to some of the concerns we are aware of, as well as providing information on the support services which are available.”

Funding to enable the resource to be developed was facilitated through the Armed Forces Covenant (LIBOR) Fund. The fund comes from fines levied on banks for attempting to manipulate the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) benchmark.

The web resource can be found at www.gov.uk/mod/domestic-abuse-support-for-the-armed-forces