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Schools play a key role in tackling domestic violence according to Margaret Curran, minister for social justice, in announcing a new school-focused initiative.

Curran made her comments at a conference, hosted by the executive’s domestic violence prevention working group, where pupils from Carrick Academy in Ayr and James Gillespie's High School in Edinburgh also presented powerful messages about domestic abuse using artwork and statements from children in refuges.

One comment from a child living in a Women’s Aid refuge in South Ayrshire read: "They can catch you for not having a TV licence, but they can’t catch you for doing this to another human being. My mum has no life."

The executive has commissioned a paper on tackling domestic abuse from Learning and Teaching Scotland the national body formed by the executive to give advice on teaching methods, staff support and other issues. The paper, 'With All Due Respect', is to be given a key place in the national debate on education.

www.scotland.gov.uk