Domestic Violence
Violence Against Women Initiative: Civil and Criminal Law Projects
Project List:
More on the Violence Against Women Initiative
Standing Together Civil
SUMMARY
Standing Together has run a successful co-ordinated multi-agency response to victims calling Fulham Police to domestic violence incidents since November 1998. ST has concentrated on improving and monitoring the use of the criminal justice system. This project is to ‘join up’ the woman’s experience of criminal & civil proceedings by adding the civil work to the co-ordinated response of ‘Standing Together Against Domestic Violence’.
INTERVENTIONS
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To ‘join up’ the woman’s experience of criminal & civil proceedings by adding the civil work to the co-ordinated response of ‘Standing Together Against Domestic Violence’.
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To develop a new role for the Advocacy Project to take on the civil work, to encourage and to monitor the use of civil injunctions Borough wide, to carry out risk assessments.
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To decrease the risk at the most dangerous time for a woman which is at the point of intervention by outside agencies, by integrating civil & criminal & advocacy supports & providing emergency contact by mobile or pager where necessary.
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To increase the choices women have for their safety and evaluate their experience.
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To provide liaison by a Police Executive Officer, on a daily basis, with Courts, CPS, Advocacy, Police CSU and uniformed officers to ensure information exchange, data recording and sharing, representation on sub-groups of Standing Together; to act as a link with all agencies identifying problems & good practice.
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To ensure that every officer called to a domestic violence incident has the equipment to carry out enhanced evidence gathering with cameras, Borough wide, & to get copies of that evidence to Court.
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To train magistrates & inform Judiciary in awareness of the complexities of domestic violence and in what Standing Together has to offer, in particular the Advocacy service & the ILPS Violence Prevention Programme and to share their impact on domestic violence with the Judiciary and legal personnel.
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To set up a designated day at West London Magistrates Court domestic violence cases.
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To explore Criminal Courts using their Civil Powers to hear both proceedings regarding one family at the same time, to decrease the risks to the safety of women & children, particularly as regards child contact.
AGENCIES INVOLVED
Met. Police, Hammersmith & Fulham, Hammersmith Women’s Aid, Hammersmith Women’s Aid Advocacy Project, Hammersmith & Fulham Community Law Centre, Crown Prosecution Service West London Branch, West London Magistrates Court, Inner London Probation Service, Domestic Violence Intervention Project (DVIP), London Borough Hammersmith & Fulham Community Safety Unit, LBHF Information Technology Services Department, LBHF Social Services Department,. Awareness In Practice, Camden Women’s Centre, Fulham Parents & Children (FULPAC). Chair of H&F Domestic Violence Forum.
West Somerset Polaroid Cameras
SUMMARY
Use Polaroid cameras for enhanced evidence gathering in every response car in West Somerset to enable a formal evaluation of the impact of photographic evidence.
INTERVENTIONS
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Purchase cameras to cover the West Somerset District so that each response car will be equipped.
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Training will be provided to all personnel in the correct use of the cameras.
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A policy for how to use the Polaroid cameras has already been written.
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Use the cameras for enhanced evidence gathering techniques in cases of domestic violence.
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Monthly Steering Group Meetings will be held with CPS to monitor progress, an element of which will be to identify any emerging training needs.
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Enable a rigorous and formal evaluation of the use of photographic evidence in supporting prosecutions of domestic violence.
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
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Increase numbers of arrests in the region of 10%
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Reduce the number of lose declines to prosecute by at least 20%
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Increased number of guilty pleas
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Increase the numbers of prosecutions, reducing those that withdrawn or discontinued by at least 20%
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increase number of prosecutions without a witness
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Cost benefit analysis
AGENCIES INVOLVED
Taunton Police, Avon and Somerset Constabulary, Somerset West Police District, Crown Prosecution Service, Taunton Domestic Violence Forum, Taunton Deane Crime and Disorder Partnership, Sedgemoor Domestic Violence Forum.
Brighton and Hove Intimidated Witness Support Service
SUMMARY
The primary focus will be upon enhancing the criminal justice and other responses to cases referred by the Police, especially those in which repeated incidents have been reported. It is intended to improve reporting mechanisms for Black and minority ethnic women; and those with disabilities or other particular needs, e.g. pregnant or elderly women or lesbians and gay men and to enhance interagency co-operation and liaison.
INTERVENTION
A new 7 day a week Intimidated Witness Support Service (IWSS) will work alongside the existing WRP Outreach and Advice Service and in liaison with specialist police officers in the AVU. The IWSS will include a Team Leader; 3 Witness Advocates (WAs); a social worker; 1 childcare worker; and an administrator. The Team Leader and each WA will have an additional area of special responsibility, including work with Black and minority ethnic women, those who are disabled, pregnant or have particular health needs, young people (including those who are also perpetrators) and lesbians and gay men. Following report of incident to the police WAs will contact victims to offer assistance and support. WAs will advise and support victims and (unlike existing WRP Advice Workers) will actively encourage - though not pressurise - them to pursue prosecution, sharing information in line with agreed protocols and working with the victims and their children to advise police as to lines of inquiry and possible sources of evidence and intelligence.
The IWSS team will assist women whether or not they choose to support a prosecution. With due regard to staff safety, Was will have the capacity to make unaccompanied visits to victims in their homes or elsewhere. As appropriate, WAs may also undertake follow up visits with police. The WRP will work with the existing out of hours Council housing service to provide an improved service to the Police to ensure that women they identify can be safely accommodated out of hours. The team will work with Police to ensure that information about the children of women experiencing DV is passed to Social Services, the Health Visitor Service and schools in order to ensure that children are offered the support they need. At all times, children’s rights to services and protection, will be given priority and their capacity to bear witness will not be denied without good reason.
Overall management of casework associated with children will be undertaken by the social worker, who will work alongside and refer to the WRP’s existing Children & Young People’s Service. She will work with the Team Leader and relevant WA to ensure appropriate liaison and co-operation with Social Services and CAFCAS. Pro bono legal advice services to clients will be provided on a contractual basis by specified solicitors from franchised firm (under the guidance of the Community Legal Services). They will also be able to provide limited legal consultancy services to the IWSS. The IWSS will maintain appropriate liaison with the CPS, Courts and Probation Service. The WRP’s existing Management Team and Training Service will co-ordinate delivery of appropriate training to the new team and partner agencies. All service users will have access to the core services of the WRP's Outreach and Advice Service, including Helpline; drop in advice sessions; appointments; and therapeutic groups. All will be invited to attend a service users forum in order to ensure that the service meets women's needs.
The IWSS will be located in police premises, but will operate as required within the WRP Outreach Service building. The IWSS will have its own team leader who will be line managed, supervised and trained by WRP personnel. Overall, responsibility for the scheme will be with the Director of the WRP, in consultation and co-operation with the Commanders of Brighton and Hove Police.
AGENCIES INVOLVED
Women’s Refuge Project – Brighton and South Downs, Sussex Police (Brighton), Sussex Police (Hove), Brighton & Hove Council (Housing & Environment), Brighton & Hove Council (Social & Health Care Services, Brighton & Hove Council (Education & Lifelong Learning), South Downs Health NHS Trust, East Sussex Probation Services.
Gloucester Co-ordinated Community Response
SUMMARY
This project aims to develop and enhance the work of the Gloucestershire Co-ordinated Community Response (CCR). This aims to make fundamental changes in the community’s response to domestic violence and to reduce the incidence of domestic violence.
EXISTING INITIATIVES
Current Delivery:
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The CCR is made up of 7 statutory agencies (Health, Education, Social Services, Police, Probation, CPS, Housing Department), the Domestic Violence Advice and Intervention project (IP) and representatives from the voluntary sector service providers (via the county domestic violence forum)
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All partners in the CCR (excluding the forum) have made a written commitment, endorsed and supported by chief officers, to implement changes within their organisations, including increased specialist training for staff, changes in policies and procedures and sharing of information, in order to meet the aims and objectives of the CCR.
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The CCR is co-ordinated centrally by the Intervention Project, (IP) which is closely modelled on the Duluth Domestic Abuse Intervention project (USA).
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The Intervention Project co-ordinates the delivery of an innovative and comprehensive advocacy service comprising:
24-hour crisis support service
victim advocacy service – keeping victims/survivors informed and supported throughout the criminal justice process
survivors support/education groups for ex-partners of offenders going through the CJS
access for victims/survivors to resources and services offering safety and protection
survivors focus groups
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The IP also has responsibility for:
support and advice on the development and implementation of policies and good practice guidelines for agencies in the CCR
Central information point, recording and analysing statistics of DV in the county, with meticulous tracking and monitoring of every case through the system to monitor how policies and procedures are applied
Central brokerage between agencies, ensuring maximum co-operation and co-ordination, and minimising the extent to which victims are “passed round” the system seeking help
Inter-agency training delivery and design, (in conjunction with the CCR training sub-group)
INTERVENTIONS
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Building the capacity of the advocacy project, increasing the number of paid advocates in Gloucester city and employing development workers to enable the scheme to develop in other districts of the county, in conjunction with existing provision such as refuges and victim support. It is the intention that with the additional and focused support this project will provide, fewer women will feel forced to withdraw their statements, thus helping to increase the number of appropriate prosecutions.
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A specific exercise, working with CPS and the Police to improve evidence gathering and increase, where appropriate, arrest, charge and prosecution rates. This will include an analysis of the current position to identify the cause of the low prosecution rate, a pilot project in which police officers are issued with cameras to record photographic evidence, and a series of CPS led training sessions for police officers to ensure appropriate evidence is collected to improve the chances of prosecution.
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Increasing the number of mobile phones and link line units available to victims of domestic violence in the county. The link line scheme is another safety initiative operating successfully in the county, as a collaboration between Police, Victim Support and the District Council Housing Departments. Units are installed in the homes of victims to allow direct and immediate access to the police when required. The 2 schemes are complementary, to allow choice and in recognition of the fact that either could be an inappropriate response in some circumstances.
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Increasing the amount of specialist DV training received by staff and volunteers in the county to ensure a consistently effective response wherever domestic violence is disclosed. This will include, as well as existing members of the CCR, magistrates (agreed for 2001 via the Chief Magistrates Clerk with responsibility for training), solicitors and legal advice agencies (agreed by the community legal services partnership to act as vehicle for dissemination of information).
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Study on current use and effectiveness of civil law in DV cases, and dissemination of focused training and information for advice services in the County. To be delivered in conjunction with the Gloucestershire Community Legal Services Partnership (Gloucester city was nominated by the Lord Chancellor’s Department as a pioneer partnership)
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Increase the availability of specific support services to children of domestic violence victims, at the time of referral to the project (in partnership with NSPCC)
AGENCIES INVOLVED
Gloucestershire Co-ordinated Community Response to Domestic Violence, Crown Prosecution Service, Gloucester City Council Housing Department, Gloucester Royal NHS Trust : A&E department, Gloucestershire Constabulary, Gloucestershire Domestic Violence Advice and Intervention Project, Gloucestershire Education Department , Gloucestershire Health Authority, Gloucestershire Social Services, NSPCC, Probation Service.
Last update: June 2003