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A new report claims that a high proportion of children aged 13 to 14 have experienced domestic abuse听either as witnesses, victims or those carrying out the abuse.听 More than a thousand school children were involved in the survey.听听听 A quarter carried out at least one abusive act-often emotional abuse or controlling behaviour-against a boyfriend or girlfriend. Other parts of the report talked to young men up to the age of 21 who had experienced domestic abuse. The authors of the report are now calling on the Government for major reforms in the way that these children are dealt with. Jenni talks to Professor David Gadd from Manchester University who led the research and Ben Jamal, the chief executive of the Domestic Violence Intervention Project in London.

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Professor Sue Bailey is a consultant child and adolescent forensic psychiatrist who has worked in the field for more than 30 years. She has worked on cases involving youngsters like Jon Venables, one of the boys found guilty of the murder of two year old James Bulger in Liverpool in 1993.听 In 2011 she was appointed president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and she is also on the Woman鈥檚 Hour Power list. Jenni talks to Sue about her work and being on the power list.听

In the early nineties, four miners' wives made the news when they attempted to save 31 pits from closure by occupying Parkside colliery in Merseyside. Among them was Anne Scargill who at the time was married to the miners鈥� leader Arthur Scargill. Their protest lasted four nights. Maxine Peake has now dramatized the story and 鈥淨ueens of the Coal Age鈥� will be broadcast at 2.15pm on Radio Four on Monday, November 4th.听 听Jenni speaks to Maxine Peake and Anne Scargill about the production.

On Tuesday members of the House of Lords debated the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill. The bill has already been through the House of Commons and, if it is passed, could mean an overhaul of the way incidents of Anti-Social Behaviour are dealt with by police and the criminal justice system. At the moment, Anti-Social Behaviour is defined as that which has caused 鈥渉arassment, alarm and distress鈥�, but the bill proposes that it is changed to 鈥渃onduct capable of causing nuisance and annoyance鈥�. Anyone over the age of 10 deemed to be doing this can be brought before a judge and served with an IPNA 鈥� an Injunction to Prevent Nuisance or Annoyance 鈥� which replaces the current ASBO.听

Critics say the change will mean children end up penalised just for playing outdoors and potentially 鈥渁nnoying鈥� their neighbours, and that minor disputes will be escalated to the police too quickly. The government says the bill will tighten the law on Anti-Social Behaviour, making it easier for victims to get positive action in their community. Jenni is joined by Cath Prisk, the director of Play England, and social commentator Angela Epstein.

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