In 2021, together with many other organisations working in the field of domestic abuse, we co-signed a Call to Action for the Government to publish a domestic abuse perpetrator strategy for England and Wales. Co-ordinated by the Drive Partnership, the Call to Action lays out the need for perpetrator interventions and the five requirements the strategy should fulfil for it to be systematic and effective.
In its latest update, violence against women and girls is recognised as a national threat, and sets clear expectations for local and regional police capabilities to tackle violence against women and girls as well as how local forces collaborate with other agencies.
This plan lays out exactly how the Government plans to tackle domestic abuse, including a focus on behaviour change interventions for perpetrators.
The Act established a new statutory definition of domestic abuse that places greater emphasis on the recognition of non-violent forms of abuse, such as coercion and control and economic abuse. For the first time, it also recognises children as victims/survivors in their own right, rather than witnesses.
One of the cornerstones of the Government’s VAWG strategy is prioritising prevention by addressing the attitudes and behaviour that can underpin crimes of violence against women and girls.
The first of its kind, this framework contains actions for the ‘Relentless Pursuit of Perpetrators’.
In 2006 Baroness Corston was commissioned by the Home Office to examine what could
be done to avoid women with particular vulnerabilities ending up in prison. The key findings include that most women in the criminal justice system have been victims of much more serious offences than those they are accused of committing, and that relationship problems, drug addiction and mental health problems feature strongly in women’s pathways into crime.
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