"Violence against women continues to persist as one of the most heinous, systematic and prevalent human rights abuses in the world"

        Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations

"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

 

  

 

16 November 2009

Tackling serial perpetrators of violence against women

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) has handed the government a review considering what new measures could be taken to tackle serial perpetrators of violence against women. To download a PDF of the 100-page review click on the link.

The review, which was undertaken over six months, was conducted by the ACPO lead on domestic abuse, Chief Constable Brian Moore, at the request of the former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

The review considered proposals including:

• Persons at risk of violence have the ‘right to know’ about relevant information;
• consideration of a new criminal offence whereby a prosecution may be brought on the basis of evidence of repeated violent behaviour (known as a ‘Course of Conduct’) against different victims of violence; and
• that the law should be changed to enable the police to issue a Domestic Violence Protection Order of up to 14 days duration, to prevent a suspected perpetrator of this form of violence from entering the address of the victim and/or to prevent contact with the victim.

Chief Constable Brian Moore said, “At the heart of this review is ensuring that we are doing all we can to protect victims and the public from dangerous people who have repeatedly shown a propensity towards violence.

“Improving knowledge of these dangerous people and strengthening our strategies and tactics against them will mean the police can be more effective in keeping victims safe. Our first duty is, and remains, the protection of victims. We want to go after those serial perpetrators who go from relationship to relationship, growing in confidence and menace.

“We considered these proposals according to our remit to look at what can be done to protect people. We recognise they require further consultation and debate and may be controversial. It is for Government to take into account the wider perspectives as part of its full consultation.”

The review was requested by the then Home Secretary as a contribution to the government’s consultation Together We Can End Violence Against Women And Girls.

As part of the consultation process, Chief Constable Moore was asked to undertake a full review of what additional powers the CJS might need to control the activities of perpetrators of gender-based violence – which includes domestic violence, stalking and harassment, honour-based violence, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, rape, sexual assault, sex trafficking, prostitution and elder abuse.

Beginning in March, the review involved consultation through the ACPO Domestic Abuse Working Group, liaison with victims and academics from Bristol University.

The review gathered data from a majority of forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and based on an extrapolation from those responses, estimate there may be as many as 25,000 serial perpetrators of domestic abuse whom the police are aware of.

 

21 September 2009

Channel 4 News report on Domestic Violence

Some councils are failing to provide housing to victims of domestic violence without children.

A Channel 4 News investigation has found that many women without children are being put at risk because council do not consider them to be priority need. As a result they are not given temporary accommodation.

Every council in England has been told to cut the number of people given temporary accommodation and it is thought that many local authorities are turning away female victims of domestic violence if they do not have children - a practice known as gatekeeping.

In response, the minister for the homeless, Ian Austin, said, "Homelessness legislation and guidance is clear – local authorities must by law assess all adults who have had to leave their home as a result of domestic abuse and have asked for housing assistance.

"Even if a woman is homeless but not in priority need, local authorities must ensure that they are given advice and assistance to help them find somewhere to live for themselves. We are investigating the cases highlighted in the report and will work closely with local authorities to ensure that the experiences of these women is not repeated.

"We have also already put significant funding in place for housing support services for women at risk of domestic violence through our Supporting People programme - amounting to £64.5m in 2007/08."