HEALTH AND PUBLIC SECTOR PROFESSIONALS TO HELP IMPROVE HEALTH SERVICES FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Health and public sector professionals are being asked for their views on how the NHS can improve its services for women and girls who have been victims of violence and sexual assault, Health Minister Ann Keen announced today.

Each year, across the UK, 3 million women experience violence including domestic violence, sexual violence, forced marriage and trafficking. The Taskforce on the health aspects of violence against women and girls is holding a month long in a listening exercise to collect feedback from health and other public sector professionals.

Health Minister Ann Keen said;

“Almost one in three women will experience domestic violence at some point during their lives and nearly one in four will experience some form of sexual assault. Furthermore, more than a third of all rapes recorded by the police are committed against children under 16 years of age.

“We know that victims of violence can find it easier to seek help from trusted health professionals and that is why we want health and public sector professionals to tell us what they think of the service provided by the NHS and how it might be improved.

“This will form a valuable contribution to a cross-Government strategy, to be published later this year, which aims to ensure that all frontline services work closely together to reduce violence against women and girls and provide the best possible support to victims.”

Health and public sector professionals will be asked for their views on areas including:

· Service delivery - early identification, access to healthcare services, staff awareness and attitudes maximising NHS resources

· Service commissioning – needs assessment, NHS commissioning, joint commissioning, commissioning from non-NHS providers

· Partnership working – information sharing, service level agreements and protocols, collaborative service delivery

Health and public sector professionals should go to www.dh.gov.uk/vawg to register their views by the 14 October 2009.

Restraining order powers to further protect victims of domestic violence and harassment

A powerful tool to help protect victims of harassment including domestic abuse will come into effect next month, the Government confirmed today.

From 30 September courts will have greater freedom to grant restraining orders when abusers appear before them, giving victims immediate protection and sparing them the ordeal of a separate civil action.

Currently courts can only issue restraining orders following conviction for two types of offences: harassment or putting someone in fear of violence.

Under the new rules an order can be made following conviction for any offence and even where someone is acquitted in order to better protect victims. Breaking the terms of a restraining order is a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in prison.

Today’s announcement coincides with the publication of the National Domestic Violence Delivery Plan 2008/9.

Home Office Minister Lord West said:

“Domestic violence is a devastating crime which impacts across all communities.
“We continue to make good progress in tackling this hateful crime and conviction rates are improving – 72 per cent of cases charged and brought to court at the end of 2008/09 resulted in a conviction compared with 60 per cent four years ago.

“The additional powers announced today will also help victims in need of immediate protection and spare them the need to take separate civil action.

“But there is still more to be done and I look forward to the launch of the cross-government Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy in November and further measures to help victims and prevent violence.”

Harriet Harman, Minister for Women and Equality, said:

“Domestic violence is totally unacceptable. Since 1997 we have strengthened the law, increased sentences, and improved the way police, courts and the criminal justice system support victims of domestic violence, which has led to a 64 per cent drop in incidents of domestic violence.

"But we are committed to doing more. These new restraining orders will mean that a woman does not have to go from pillar to post, immediately giving her protection from harassment.”

Nicola Harwin, Chief Executive of Women's Aid, said:

"Women's Aid welcomes the report and looks forward to the launch of the Violence against Women and Girls strategy in November. We must improve protection for those affected by abuse and welcome the many initiatives over the last 10 years to improve protection. These restraining orders will provide a valuable new tool to help protect victims

"Women's Aid also welcomes proposals for improved prevention work with young people in schools. Evidence shows that although many young people will not tolerate domestic violence, up to a million girls and boys in the UK are at risk every year."

The report shows that the Government has made significant headway in ensuring perpetrators of violence against women are effectively dealt with and victims supported.

Key achievements in 2008/9 include:

- allocating funding of £500,000 towards the National Domestic Violence Helpline run in partnership between Women’s Aid and Refuge, which received over 137,000 calls last year;

- the Crown Prosecution Service reaching 72 per cent for successful prosecutions with the number of unsuccessful outcomes in domestic violence cases falling significantly;

- funding of £225,000 provided to train 75 Independent Domestic Violence Advisers;

- an increase in the number of multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARACs) which meet to protect high risk victims of domestic violence to more than 200. Last year more than 24,000 cases had been brought to MARAC involving 34,000 children;

- implementation of the Forced Marriage Act. The Forced Marriage Unit saw a 27 per cent increase in the number of cases as more people sought help than ever before; and

- expanding the Specialist Domestic Violence Court (SDVC) programme to 122 in order to bring more perpetrators to justice.

Refuge uncovers evidence of endemic financial abuse

Last year, we conducted a survey of our service users in which 89% of respondents told us that economic abuse was a common part of their experience of domestic violence. Financial abuse includes controlling techniques like taking all of a woman’s money, strictly limiting what she is allowed to spend, putting debt in her name and refusing her access to benefit entitlements. 41% of respondents identified this economic abuse as having a negative impact on their emotional health.

We are now calling on Government to recognise and address economic abuse within its work on equality, financial exclusion, child poverty and domestic violence, and to ensure that welfare benefits are fast-tracked for women who have experienced domestic violence. As part of this work, Refuge met with Harriet Harman QC MP, Minister for Women, in January to discuss policy developments in the domestic violence sector and to share with her our work on economic abuse.

As announced in our last newsletter, we have launched a financial guide containing practical
advice for women on how to prepare financially to leave an abusive partner, how to access safe
accommodation and how to take control of their finances in the long term. In doing so, it aims to
increase women’s awareness of the financial support available to them so that they can live their lives free from violence. ‘You can afford to leave’, funded by HBOS Foundation, is availableavailable from our website: www.refuge.org.uk.

(MPA) MPA Domestic Violence Board expands remit to take on Sexual Violence

The MPA Domestic Violence Board is formally expanding its remit and oversight responsibilities to include sexual violence and will re-launch as the Domestic and Sexual Violence Board on 3 April 2009.

Cindy Butts, MPA member and chair of the Board said:

"This is an exciting and challenging step forward. I hope we will have the same success with supporting the development of the MPS response to sexual violence as the Board achieved with domestic abuse. We will support partnership work across the MPS to ensure safety for victims and increase public confidence that domestic and sexual violence will be dealt with most seriously by the MPS.

"Like so many areas of criminal activity, it is only by working in partnership and learning from each other's experiences of what actually works on the ground can we really tackle this brutal crime and make a real and lasting difference for victims."

The Board will perform a key role in supporting and scrutinising the MPA as it prepares to move the Sapphire Teams which investigate sexual violence into one central command. The Board is also the independent mechanism by which the MPA monitors and scrutinises the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) performance in tackling these crimes.

Commander Mark Simmons, of the MPS Violent Crime Unit, said;

"The Board has played an important role in assisting the Met in improving service delivery and holding perpetrators accountable in relation to domestic violence. I look forward to continuing the relationship in the wider and critically important arena of violence against women"

The MPA Domestic and Sexual Violence Board is developing in tandem with the upcoming Mayoral London Violence against Women Strategy. The Board will also ensure any issues resulting from the National Violence against Women Strategy are integrated fully into police practice.

The Board requests Borough Operational Command Units to report their response to domestic and sexual violence within their borough, and invites guests and professionals from the community to facilitate open discussion of local issues. It also brings together national and pan-London organisations such as the Crown Prosecution Service, Greater London Authority, the Havens and Greater London Domestic Violence Project in order to harness their specialist knowledge and expertise.

The Board also focuses on specific policy areas annually - last year topics included disproportionality and child protection.

(Ministry of Justice) Domestic Violence: eighteen new Special Courts announced

Victims of Domestic Violence will receive extra help and support from 18 new Specialist Domestic Violence Courts, Justice Minister Bridget Prentice announced today.

The new courts will be located in Eastern England, East Midlands, London, North East, North West, South West, West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside. The Government has a target to have a total of 128 courts by 2011.

These courts are a fundamental part of the Government's efforts to improve the support and care provided for victims of Domestic Violence. The Specialist Domestic Violence Court programme promotes a combined approach to tackling domestic violence by the police, the Crown prosecutors, magistrates, courts and probation together with specialist support services for victims, which situates the court and the Criminal Justice System as part of a community-wide response to Domestic Violence.

Justice Minister, Bridget Prentice said:

"I am delighted to announce a further 18 Specialist Domestic Violence Courts. These courts have been a real success and are central to the package of support we offer domestic violence victims.

"It is clear by the level of interest and the standard of assessments this year that there is still an appetite locally for the development of specialist courts. This latest batch of accredited courts puts us well on the way to meeting the target of 128 Specialist Domestic Violence Courts by 2011.

"The progress made shows that the Government is absolutely committed to putting victims at the heart of the Criminal Justice System."

Key features of the courts include:

* trained and dedicated criminal justice staff with enhanced expertise in dealing with domestic violence, including magistrates specially trained in dealing with domestic violence cases
* cases clustered on a particular day to enable all agencies to focus their specialist resources
* tailored support and advice from Independent Domestic Violence Advisors

Home Office Minister Alan Campbell said:

"Domestic Violence is a devastating hidden crime which the Government condemns in all its forms. We are committed to ensuring victims are at the heart of the criminal justice system by ensuring they feel confident in coming forward and reporting these cowardly crimes. We now have 122 Specialist Domestic Violence Courts providing victims across the country with the support they need to come forward and help us bring perpetrators to justice. We know this approach is working - the number of prosecutions has nearly doubled in the past four years and an average of 72.5 per cent of cases now result in a successful prosecution.

"We also recognise the need to do more to prevent these crimes from happening in the first place, which is why we recently launched the largest cross-Government consultation on ending violence against women and girls - asking the public what more we can do to prevent and challenge the attitudes that condone it. I urge both men and women to feed in their views."

The Attorney General, Baroness Scotland QC said:

"Improving the safety of women experiencing Domestic Violence and the support that they are given is a key priority for the Government. The selection of 18 further Specialist Domestic Violence Courts will ensure that more victims of domestic violence will benefit from enhanced expertise and insight into these crimes. The Crown Prosecution Service continues to improve its performance on domestic violence cases. Specialist Domestic Violence Courts are playing a key role in increasing the number of successful outcomes"