Violent offences involving adolescents attacking parents or step-parents have surged by over 60% in the past decade, according to Scotland Yard. Cases rose from 1,886 in 2015 to 3,091 in the first 10 months of 2025.

Jane Griffiths, CEO of Capa First Response, said the trend mirrors a national rise, with her charity seeing referrals jump 90% in two years. She cited growing awareness of support services, alongside factors like child poverty and strained family dynamics: “When you struggle externally, you struggle within the systems of your family.”

Helen Bonnick, author of Child to Parent Violence and Abuse, hopes the figures signal reduced stigma around reporting. “Fifteen years ago, hardly anyone was talking about it,” she said, noting new insights into trauma and neurodiversity, plus cuts to mental health and children’s services that weakened early support.

Child-to-parent violence is considered by experts in the field to be the most hidden and stigmatised form of family violence, with the recorded numbers likely to only hint at the true scale of the problem.