Guernsey updates domestic abuse laws
The parliament in Guernsey has passed new legislation to modernise what was seen as outdated laws covering domestic abuse, with the aim to protect and empower victim-survivors. Measures include new protection notices which can impose longer-term requirements and prohibitions on perpetrators, more powers given to police to restrict the movement of offenders to safeguard victims, […]
Refuge urges government to tackle tech-enabled abuse
Refuge is calling on the Westminster government to make combating technology-facilitated abuse a key part of its plan to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG). “Most survivors we support now have experienced some form of technology-facilitated abuse and what has changed over recent years is the ease with which abusers are able to stalk, […]
National award for creator of domestic violence victims’ aid
Stacey Rothwell has won the innovation award at the government’s Science and Engineering (GSE) Awards for her work devising Rapid Video Response (RVR), secure technology which guarantees domestic violence victims video access to a police officer. Based on a pilot project in Kent, RVR cuts response time to three minutes from around 33 hours, significantly […]
Hidden extent of DA in Britain’s ethnic communities
The fear of family disownment and community isolation means many Pakistani women do not report domestic abuse, according to campaigners. Separately, a book has been published highlighting how 21 Sikh women survived domestic abuse. “[Domestic abuse] is a hidden pandemic. That’s why we have to support these woman in any way we can,” the BBC […]
Police record rise in football related DA during Euros
The 43 police forces in England and Wales reported 351 domestic abuse incidents as being football related during this year’s Euros soccer tournament. That is an 81.9% increase on such cases recorded during the preceding tournament in 2021. But the National Police Chiefs’ Council argues the rise is partly due to better recording by forces […]
International: Olympian’s killing causes outrage
The death of Ugandan Olympic long-distance runner and record holder Rebecca Cheptegei, allegedly set alight by her partner, has provoked condemnation. “[The incident] is a tragic reminder that domestic abuse can and does infiltrate all parts of society, including women celebrated for their achievements in the world of sport and beyond,” Women’s Aid and Women […]
DA victims’ views on sentences differ from sentencing body’s
The Scottish Sentencing Council has found victims-survivors of domestic abuse take a different view on sentencing than itself, after commissioning Glasgow Caledonian University researchers to look into the subject. “What victim-survivors considered to be the main purposes of sentencing did not necessarily align with those set out by the High Court and developed by the […]
DA is least reported crime in Northern Ireland
Around two-thirds (63%) of respondents to the annual Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey are likely to tell police they have been a victim of domestic abuse. The proportion falls to 45% in the 18-to-24 age group. That makes domestic abuse the crime, of those surveyed, least reported to the police. A break-in or burglary […]
More than 185,000 babies ‘annually witness DA’
New data indicates an estimated 187,750 infants under two years of age are present when police are called out to domestic abuse incidents in England. Workers in the field are concerned. “Living in a home where domestic abuse happens can have a serious impact on a child’s mental and physical health, as well as their […]
International: DA rises in Ukraine amid tensions of war
Domestic violence is increasing in Ukraine with the country in its third year of war against Russian invaders. According to Ukraine’s internal affairs ministry, police registered more than 291,000 cases of domestic violence across the country in 2023, up a fifth on the previous year. This year’s total is likely to be much higher as […]
