Malique, a father to two young daughters, is now an Ambassador for the national children’s charity, KidsOut which provides wellbeing experiences for every child living in over 650 women’s refuges across the UK, including in and around Manchester.
As a child, Malique’s single mother would foster children who mostly came from abusive or disadvantaged backgrounds. Malique said. “I have always felt passionate about helping children who haven’t had the same opportunities as me. My brother, who has autism, struggled a lot growing up, and I’ve always been very protective of him.
"I have since found out that children who have special needs or disabilities are 25% more likely to be abused than other children. I have also seen just how many very young children live in refuges. It is heart-breaking. Now, as a father, I feel more passionate and determined than ever before to make a positive difference.”
Whilst local authorities are required to provide accommodation to families fleeing abuse, they are not required to provide mental health support. As a result, many children who experience domestic abuse grow up to face serious mental health challenges, including depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, self-harm, and in extreme cases, suicide.
Malique, who recently lost a friend, a survivor of childhood abuse, to suicide said: “More needs to be done to raise awareness of the impact of domestic abuse – and we men can help by calling it out.”
Every year in the UK, over 20,000 children, along with their mothers flee domestic abuse and find sanctuary in a women’s refuge. The children will have witnessed or personally experienced emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuse, and will normally arrive in a refuge with nothing more than the clothes they are wearing. Having left everything behind them, including family, friends, their school, pets, and all their belongings, they may spend up to two years sharing one room in the refuge, often living at least one county away from their previous lives.
"The charity I am proud to be working with, has several women's refuges around Manchester, each with children whose lives have been torn apart. All who will have seen or personally experienced abuse. This is predominantly a male created problem, and it's men who need to change it."