Case Study

Today is Monday and you are the duty worker at The Centre against Violence Service. Jane phones from her workplace and is in tears. It takes several minutes of crisis intervention, reminding Jane to breath and that it is ok to wait a moment until she can speak, before you can begin to hear what she is upset about. Jane’s colleague has encouraged her to make the call. She informs you that her partner (twenty years in the relationship) follows her to work to make sure she doesn’t phone anyone and this morning there was a ‘blow up’ because she thought he had gone and began to phone her sister but he hadn’t gone and he ‘caught her’. He was angry and demanding why she was phoning her sister. Using the CRAF, Common Risk Assessment Framework, you begin to compile an assessment indicating that Jane is subject to emotional, psychological, social and verbal abuse. Jane wants help but is reluctant to leave because ‘of the children’. What will you do?