APPENDIX 37
Memorandum submitted by the Home Office
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. Domestic violence is a
volume crime comprising 15% of all violent incidents, with about
one in four women and one in six men having been a victim of domestic
violence since the age of 16. One incident is reported to the
police every minute and around two women a week are killed by
a partner or former partner.
2. In 2001 in England and
Wales, domestic violence was estimated to cost a total of £23
billion, with £2.7 billion absorbed by employers and workers.
3. The Government has been
working on many fronts to raise awareness and understanding of
domestic violence and improve delivery across all sectors.
4. In relation to progress
made in recent years, there has been a 59% decrease in the prevalence
of domestic violence since 1995. In 2005-06 domestic violence
homicides (n=106) were at their lowest level since 1999-2000 and
down markedly on the previous year (2004-05 n=144). See also,
Appendix A for key milestones in the Government's progress.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
CRIME AND
VICTIMS ACT
(DVCVA) 2004
5. In 2004 the Domestic Violence
Crime and Victims Act (DVCVA) was enacted, which included a number
of new powers and amendments to existing legislation, to increase
the protection available to victims when cases are brought to
the attention of the criminal justice system.
NATIONAL DELIVERY
PLAN FOR
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
6. Supporting the changes
in legislation, the Government developed a National Delivery Plan
in 2005, focussing on five key outcomes:
(i) Reduce the number of domestic
violence homicides;
(ii) Reduce the prevalence of domestic
violence;
(iii) Increase the rate that domestic
violence is reported;
(iv) Increase the rate of domestic
violence offences that are brought to justice; and
(v) Ensure victims of domestic violence
are adequately protected and supported.
In addition, the Government works closely
with the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Office
to ensure there is complimentary work to tackle domestic abuse.
In 2005, Tackling Domestic Abuse in Wales: The All Wales National
Strategy a Joint Agency Approach was published as was Northern
Ireland's Tackling Violence at Home Strategy for addressing
domestic violence and abuse.
Public education and awareness-raising
7. The Government has launched
three campaigns to raise awareness of domestic violence. These
campaigns have focused on: victims and their children; the role
of third parties; and, a police enforcement campaign run during
the FIFA World Cup in 2006.
Police powers and legal protection for victims
8. The key domestic violence
related measures within the DVCVA 2004 have provided significant
new police powers to deal with domestic violence including making
it a criminal offence to breach a non-molestation order, punishable
by up to five years imprisonment and to make common assault an
arrestable offence (though the latter was superseded by further
legislation making all offences arrestable). To accompany this,
guidance from the Association of Chief Police Officers has been
disseminated to all forces with a commitment to train all frontline
officers by 2008. This guidance has been promulgated through two
recent successful enforcement campaigns (see point 2 of public
education and awareness-raising).
9. Implementation of key measures
within the DVCVA has strengthened the civil law on domestic violence
and made a number of amendments to the Family Law Act 1996 to
provide better protection for victims and their children, whilst
also holding offenders to account. In addition to making it a
criminal offence to breach a non-molestation order; the Act clarified
that cohabiting couples includes same-sex couples and made couples
who have never married or cohabited eligible for non-molestation
and occupation orders. The Act will also enable courts to impose
restraining orders when sentencing for any offence and giving
any person mentioned in a restraining order the right to make
representations in court if an application is made to vary or
terminate the order.
Criminal and civil justice processes, including
the Specialist Domestic Violence Court Programme
10. Real progress has been
achieved in the criminal justice response to domestic violence.
The police, crown prosecutors, the courts and judiciary and the
probation service have all made huge strides to improve their
services: through training; changes to work practices; the support
and protection of victims; and, in bringing perpetrators to justice.
Aside from a wide range of protective injunctions for all, the
Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 will provide civil
protection for vulnerable individuals threatened with forced marriage.
11. A key focus of the National
Domestic Violence Delivery Plan has been the continued expansion
of the Specialist Domestic Violence Court (SDVC) Programme. The
Programme takes a holistic, multi-agency approach to putting victims
at the heart of the CJS. From April this year, 64 SDVCs are operational,
with a further selection planned which will bring the total to
over 100.
Support for victims, including finance and refuge
provision
12. In 2007-08, the Ministry
of Justice (MoJ) has committed £3 million for Independent
Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) services, with an ongoing commitment
for future years. This continues the support of previous funding
for IDVA services linked to the SDVCs, and expands the provision
in non-SDVC areas, bringing the total number of services supported
to over 100.
13. Policy work to support
victims of domestic violence within black and minority ethnic
communities has been developed further. This has included the
launch of a joint Forced Marriage Unit; hosting honour killings
seminars to identify how agencies can work more effectively; gathering
an evidence base; and, the development of guides to improve support
to victims and their children.
14. The joint Foreign &
Commonwealth Office/Home Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) is
the UK's "one stop shop" for developing Government policy
on forced marriage, co-ordinating outreach projects and providing
support and information to those at risk. The FMU manages around
300 cases per year and has recently launched its Two-Year Strategy.
15. Over the last year work
to strengthen statutory agency responses, in particular the police
and other criminal justice agencies to honour based violence has
been developing. This has included working with communities to
raise awareness and identify barriers, and has also looked at
the scale of the problem across London. As part of this emerging
agenda the importance of developing a strategy to tackle and prevent
these crimes is becoming more focused.
16. Since April 2005 work
has been developed to strengthen the accountability of local authority
responses to domestic violence. This has included the introduction
of a revised Best Value Performance Indicator, the purpose of
which has been to assess the overall provision and effectiveness
of local authority services designed to help victims of domestic
violence; and guidance for setting up sanctuary schemes to provide
victims with extra security measures within their homes.
17. A significant amount of
capital investment has been made to ensure that victims of domestic
violence who are at risk receive accommodation and other housing
related support. The Government has also continued to provide
funding to a matrix of help lines to support a range of victims.
Over the last year further work on the development of a programme
focused on men and domestic violence has taken place.
18. The Department of Health's
domestic violence policy is set out in Responding to Domestic
Abuse: A handbook for health professionals (2006) which encourages
raising the issue of domestic abuse with all pregnant women and
the provision of information. The implementation of the Victims
of Violence and Abuse Prevention Programme (VVAPP) is working
to create a co-ordinated package of measures to ensure the best
possible responses to domestic and sexual violence are made available.
VVAPP includes the development of National Service Guidelines
across a range of interventions with child and adult victims of
domestic violence, and perpetrators. These include Sexual Assault
Referral Centres. A handbook on domestic violence has also been
produced for health professionals. In addition, a supportive environment
for women in ante-natal care settings was established to ensure
that all pregnant women are given information in a non-stigmatising,
nonthreatening way which allows for disclosure.
19. In recognition that there
are strong links between child protection concerns and domestic
violence, Every Child Matters aims to improve the welfare of all
children through earlier and more effective assessment and intervention
for vulnerable children, including those affected by domestic
violence. The Government's inter-agency guide to safeguarding
and promoting the welfare of children (Working Together to
Safeguard Children, 2006) contains advice on appropriate responses,
particularly between children's social care and the police.
20. Recent Joint Area Reviews
of Children's Services conducted by Ofsted indicate that many
Local Authorities are addressing the effects of domestic violence
on children and have taken steps to ensure that all the relevant
agencies work together to provide an appropriate response that
helps to keep children safe.
Perpetrator programmes
21. All probation service
areas now run a perpetrator programme accredited by the Correction
Services Accreditation Panel (CSAP) for delivery in the community.
Multi-agency approaches, and what barriers exist
to their effective operation
22. Multi-Agency Risk Assessment
Conferences (MARACs) are a recent development in services offered
to high risk victims of domestic violence. The Government has
invested £1.85 million to set up MARACs in both the 64 SDVCs
and in non-SDVC areas bringing the total funded this year to over
100.
FUTURE PLANS
Domestic violence and the new Public Service Agreements
(PSAs)
23. The new suite of Home
Office PSAs currently being developed includes a focus on seriousness
and dangerousness in relation to crime reduction and protecting
the public. It is intended that there be a new Safer Communities
PSA target to reduce the prevalence of more serious violent offences,
including the most severe forms of domestic violence. In addition,
it is expected that the Justice For All PSA will require an increase
in the proportion of serious offences brought to justice. However,
discussions on this work are still on-going.
24. Indicators measuring police
and local authority performance on domestic violence are proposed
to support these PSAs.
Coordinated Community Response to Domestic Violence
25. Building on the experience
of the SDVC Programme and what is known from research, the Government
has been working to develop an holistic model that all local partnerships
can use regardless of whether or not they have an SDVC. The model
provides an illustration and narrative of how domestic violence
should be understood and tackled at local level. Guidance for
local partnerships will be developed to accompany this model,
and it is hoped that local partnerships will adapt this model
to ensure their limited resources are targeted at the most vulnerable
and high risk victims.
DETAILED EVIDENCE
Public education and awareness-raising: ENOUGH
campaign and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Violence Against
Women Campaign
26. The Home Office's recent
domestic violence communications strategy was grounded in British
Crime Survey findings that over 60% of victims confide in friends
or family members about their abuse. The campaign, intended to
raise awareness of the role third parties can play in stopping
the abuse, promoted the matrix of national help lines that the
Government supports. The campaign ran in SDVC areas in both 2006
and 2007. National domestic violence month in March each year
also aims to highlight the work we are undertaking across Government
to reduce domestic violence and the harm it causes. In 2006 this
included a CPS public awareness campaign on Violence Against
Women and Children.
Domestic Violence Enforcement Campaigns
27. The Home Office's two
Domestic Violence Enforcement Campaigns (DVECs), which ran in
spring 2005 and during the FIFA World Cup Finals in the summer
of 2006, were intended to be both catalysts for an improved response
to domestic violence locally and to raise awareness about the
campaigns with offenders, victims and the public.
28. The lessons learned during
the DVECs added significantly to the evidence base on what works
in relation to policing domestic violence, including the use of
head cameras to aid effective evidence gathering when responding
to domestic violence incidents.
Police powers and legal protection for victims
29. The key domestic violence
related measures within the DVCVA 2004 include:
— Significant new
police powers to deal with domestic violence, including making
it a criminal offence to breach a non-molestation order, punishable
by up to five years imprisonment (implemented July 2007).
— Strengthening
the civil law on domestic violence to ensure cohabiting same-sex
couples have equal access to non-molestation and occupation orders,
(implemented in December 2005) and extending the availability
of these orders to couples who have never lived together or been
married (implemented in July 2007).
— Section 110-111
of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, which commenced
in January 2006, made all offences arrestable. This means that
the existing arrest provisions under the Police and Criminal Evidence
Act (PACE) based on the concept of seriousness have been replaced
by a simplified approach providing a constable with the power
of arrest for all offences. This superseded Section 10 of the
DVCVA.
30. It is too early to provide
an evaluation of the effectiveness of these measures.
31. The following provisions
have yet to be implemented:
— Extending the
courts' powers to impose restraining orders when sentencing for
any offence, and not just upon offenders convicted of harassment
or causing fear of violence;
— Enabling courts
to impose restraining orders on acquittal for any offence, if
it is considered necessary to protect the victim from harassment;
and
— Putting the establishment
and conduct domestic homicide reviews on a statutory footing,
allowing a systems review of key agencies policies and practices
when a domestic homicide has occurred, in order to find out what
can be done to improve the system and prevent future deaths.
Criminal and civil justice processes, including
the Specialist Domestic Violence Court Programme
32. Real progress has been
achieved in relation to the criminal justice response to domestic
violence.
Domestic violence training for criminal justice
staff
33. We are rolling out the
Centrex/CPS Responses to Domestic Violence training manual to
embed the principles of the Association of Chief Police Officers'
(ACPO) Guidance on Investigating Domestic Violence in local policing
policies.
34. ACPO has also produced
guidance on risk assessment and the police as perpetrators. Her
Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary published a joint inspection
and report, with Her Majesty's Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate,
on Violence in the Home in 2004.
35. The CPS is training all
prosecutors and designated case-workers in domestic violence by
March 2008. By August 2007, 2548 (62%) of staff have been trained.
36. Successful outcomes for
domestic violence prosecutions rose from 46% in December 2003
to 67% in June 2006, exceeding the target.
Specialist Domestic Violence Courts
37. The Specialist Domestic
Violence Court (SDVC) system situates the court system and the
CJS as part of a community-wide response to domestic violence,
improving local responses to DV cases and increasing the number
of DV offences reported and successfully prosecuted.
38. The programme model, comprising
11 core components, was developed from two evaluations of seven
specialist court systems, which demonstrated that by adopting
particular working practices, significant improvements could be
made to the outcomes of domestic violence cases. Specific measures
include:
— Accredited independent
domestic violence advisors (IDVAs) who offer victims one point
of contact during and after a case;
— All CJS staff
and magistrates trained on DV;
— Specific court
listing practices to enhance the effectiveness of the court and
support services.
38. We now have 64 operational
schemes which we plan to expand to 100 by April 2008. We are also
currently reviewing progress within the existing SDVCs.
Tackling Violent Crime Programme
40. The Tackling Violent Crime
Programme (TVCP) was launched in November 2004 to tackle domestic
and alcohol related violent crime in those areas experiencing
the largest proportion of more serious violence in England and
Wales. The domestic violence work has centred on the production
of an investigation pack for domestic violence, to be utilised
by officers attending incidents of domestic violence.
SUPPORT FOR
VICTIMS, INCLUDING
FINANCE AND
REFUGE PROVISION
Independent Domestic Violence Advisors
41. Independent Domestic Violence
Advisors (IDVAs) are trained specialists who provide a service
to victims who are at high risk of harm. IDVA involvement with
victims of domestic violence has been shown to decrease victimisation
and reduce victim withdrawal.
42. During 2006-07, £3
million in funding was been used to seed-fund the development
of IDVA services in the 64 SDVC areas, and to pilot a network
of Independent Sexual Violence Advisors (ISVAs) in Sexual Assault
Referral Centres (SARCs) and specialist sexual violence voluntary
sector organisations. Accredited training for IDVAs and ISVAs
has been developed.
Support for victims of forced marriage
43. The Forced Marriage Unit,
a joint unit between the Foreign Office and the Home Office, was
launched in January 2005 to develop Government policy on forced
marriage, provide guidelines for statutory agencies, raise awareness
and co-ordinate outreach projects and provide support and information
to those at risk. The FMU handles approximately 250-300 cases
per year. The Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act, which gives
greater civil protection to victims received Royal Assent in July
2007.
So-called Honour based violence
44. The Government recognises
that there is a direct link between forced marriage and crimes
committed in the name of honour and the Home Office is working
with the FMU to explore further connections with their work. In
2006 the (then) Attorney General and Baroness Scotland hosted
two seminars on honour killings with community leaders, and third
sector agencies to identify how police and statutory agencies
can work more effectively with affected communities to get co-operation
and information and to prevent honour crimes.
45. As a result of these seminars
the risks posed for those victims of so called honour based violence
and forced marriage have been included in our roll out of Multi-Agency
Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs).
46. Over the coming months
we will be working closely with the Association of Chief Police
Officers (ACPO) to develop an honour based action plan that will
cover specific areas; adopting a co-ordinated community response
to prevent and reduce honour based violence, ensuring that all
reports of honour based violence are investigated, facilitating
effective accountability of offenders through the criminal justice
system and increasing awareness. We will be reporting progress
on this work on regular basis.
47. We are also currently
developing a national Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) working
group of Government, statutory agencies and the third sector that
will promote a partnership approach to issues such as domestic
and sexual violence, forced marriage, so called honour crimes
and female genital mutilation. The group will identify and develop
actions and practical tools to assist victims and potential victims.
48. We have commissioned the
development of a step by step guide for women in BME communities
who are victims of domestic violence. It will provide practical
advice on steps that victims can take to protect themselves and
their children. We have also commissioned research from Bristol
University which will be looking at the help-seeking behaviours
of women from BME communities with a view to informing national
policy and practice development. We expect interim findings by
the end of this year.
Refuge and housing provision
49. The introduction in April
2005 of the revised Best Value Performance Indicator 225 for domestic
violence is designed to assess overall provision of local authority
services to encourage a change in practice and approach by stimulating
authorities to act on a number of areas: providing better advice
and information; training and education to relevant staff; better
cross agency working; and better access to services.
50. Joint guidance from the
Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) and the
Local Government Association on setting up Sanctuary Schemes was
published in December 2006. The Sanctuary Scheme provides security
measures to allow those experiencing domestic violence (and other
hate crimes) to remain in their own accommodation where it is
safe for them to do so, where it is their choice and where the
perpetrator no longer lives within the accommodation.
51. Over 2003-06 a total of
£32.1 million capital was invested in refuge provision in
England (£15.7 million through the Housing Corporation and
£16.4 million from the Homelessness Strategy and Support
Directorate in CLG). 511 units of accommodation were refurbished
or newly built. In 2005-06, £59 million of Supporting People
funding was used to provide housing related support to women at
risk of domestic violence.
52. Homelessness Strategy
and Support Directorate in CLG continued to fund UKRefugesonline
(£100,000 in 2007-08), a UK wide database of domestic violence
services which supports the national 24 hour free phone domestic
violence helpline.
53. The Government provides
funds to a matrix of national helplines: including the national
24 hour domestic violence helpline; men's advice line; and broken
rainbow, a service for those within the lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender community. In relation to non-convicted perpetrators,
the Government has also funded the RESPECT phone line for perpetrators
which offers advice to those seeking help.
Men's coalition
54. The Men's Coalition consists
of a number of leading men's organisations such as Fathers Direct;
RESPECT; Men's Advice Line and Enquires; Men's Health Forum; National
Children's Homes and other leading commentators and academics
who have demonstrated an interest in speaking out against violence.
Over the year they will be developing a work programme to look
at how best they can contribute to and support the debate against
violence.
WORK PLACE
INITIATIVES
Government as an employer
55. In September 2005 the
Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) for Domestic Violence asked all
member Departments to adopt and implement robust domestic violence
policies based on Cabinet Office guidance, which would identify
and protect staff and if necessary intervene with perpetrators.
These policies are monitored quarterly by the IMG. In addition
many Departments have raised awareness of domestic violence by
running specific campaigns.
Corporate Alliance Against Domestic Violence
56. In September 2005 the
Corporate Alliance Against Domestic Violence (CAADV) was launched
by the Home Secretary and Baroness Scotland. CAADV is a group
of progressive companies and organisations working individually
and collectively to address the impact of domestic violence in
the workplace. Since its launch over 160 new companies have joined
the alliance, which means that over two million employees will
now be better protected. CAADV has developed a strategy for its
continuing work over the next year, including improving workplace
safety for domestic violence victims.
Perpetrator programmes
57. All probation service
areas now run a perpetrator programme accredited by the Correction
Services Accreditation Panel (CSAP) for delivery in the community.
During the beginning of 2006-07, all areas received programme
sign-off by satisfying CSAPs quality standards, and for the first
time targets were set by the National Offender Management Service
(NOMS) for programme completion.
58. The Government is also
funding RESPECT to develop national standards for perpetrator
programmes outside the criminal justice system.
Multi-agency approaches, and what barriers exist
to their effective operation
59. Multi-Agency Risk Assessment
Conferences (MARACs) have become the cornerstone of our approach
to identified high risk victims of domestic violence as indicated
through the use of risk assessment tools. By sharing information,
agencies get a better picture of victims' situations and so develop
responses that are tailored to the needs and goals of individual
victims and their children. Safe information-sharing also allows
agencies to manage the perpetrator in ways that reduce risk.
60. Reluctance to share information
between partners has often been identified as a barrier to the
effective operation of such multi-agency approaches. However,
the MARAC model has been approved by the Information Commissioner
and their recommendations concerning the data sharing in relation
to the MARAC is being worked into a standardised information sharing
protocol for all MARAC areas.
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