Top firms set up alliance to help combat domestic violence

Some of the UK’s best-known employers have joined forces to fight domestic violence.

Led by high-street retailer The Body Shop, founding members of the Corporate Alliance against Domestic Violence include KPMG, the BBC, AOL/Time Warner and the NHS. Together, they employ more than two million people, and the alliance is appealing for more companies of all sizes to get involved.

Representatives from the alliance met home secretary Charles Clarke, domestic violence minister Baroness Scotland and Cherie Booth QC at an event aimed at recruiting more of the UK’s biggest companies to the cause.

Domestic violence affects thousands of working women every day, impairing their ability to provide and care for themselves and their families, the group said. It has an adverse and disruptive effect on employee morale, and affects the financial strength and success of a company as a whole.

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Last year, the government estimated that time off work due to injuries caused by domestic violence costs employers and workers around £2.7bn a year. About half the cost of such absence is borne by the employer, according to the research.

The effects of domestic violence are associated with many direct and indirect costs, including decreased productivity, absenteeism and staff turnover.