Safety and justice: sharing personal information in the context of domestic violence

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Safety and justice: sharing personal information in the context of domestic violence – an overview

Domestic violence (DV) accounts for around one-fifth of violent crime and claims the lives of two women every week. Research studies estimate that both women and children are abused in 30-60 per cent of cases. This guide aims to provide both agencies and practitioners with information and sources of further advice about how best to share information lawfully and responsibly

Title: Safety and justice: sharing personal information in the context of domestic violence – an overview
Authors: Nicola Douglas, Sarah-Jane Lilley, Liz Kooper and Alana Diamond
Series: Home Office Development and Practice Report 30
Number of pages: 24
Date published: 2004
Availability: Download full report PDF 392Kb

What does this guide cover

A brief overview of why responsible information-sharing is so important in the context of DV, including how it benefits clients and the agencies that serve them.
A brief introduction to the key legal provisions that relate to lawful information-sharing.
An introduction to good practice in information-sharing
Sources of further information and advice, including guidance, toolkits and templates.

The guide draws upon examples from the Violence Against Women Initiative victim-focused projects and is balanced towards information-sharing concerning victims. However, the key principles also apply to the sharing of information about perpetrators.

Who is this guide for?

This guide is for practitioners who directly work with victims of domestic violence or are involved in the

assessment of risk. The guide aims to inform decisions to share personal or sensitive information to protect victims and/or enable perpetrators to be brought to justice. This will include a range of professionals from the health, education, criminal justice and social welfare fields:

GPs and other healthcare workers
teachers and other education staff
housing officers
social services staff
police and other criminal justice workers
NGO and voluntary sector workers

Why share information?

Responsible information-sharing plays a key role in enabling organisations and professionals to protect DV victims and their children and to save lives. Casework, advocacy, conducting risk assessments and providing general support and protection may all require information about individuals to be shared with other agencies.

Indeed, Articles 2 and 3 of the Human Rights Act (1998) place an obligation on public authorities to protect people's right to life and their right to freedom from torture and inhuman and degrading treatment. Meeting these obligations may necessitate lawful information-sharing.

The benefits of responsible information-sharing are detailed below.

Benefits to clients and their children

Responsible information-sharing enables:

Timely action to be taken to protect clients and children from further abuse.
Comprehensive risk identification and safety planning based on a full account of the facts and circumstances of each client's situation
The right sort and combination of advice, support and advocacy to be offered at the right time based on a full and accurate account of the client's needs and history, including other service contact and use.
Clients to avoid the added distress of having to repeat details of their history or experience of DV and other circumstances each time they encounter a different service.

Benefits to agencies

Responsible information-sharing enables:

Agencies to work together to protect DV victims and children in an informed and cohesive way.
Duplication of effort to be avoided (e.g. in record taking, service provision etc.)
Agencies to feel confident that they can provide a comprehensive, safe, quality service to clients, within the provisions of the law.
Agencies to enhance their reputation for professionalism and credibility with clients and other agencies by demonstrating their competence in this area

Getting a copy

Download Safety and justice: sharing personal information in the context of domestic violence – an overview PDF 392Kb

Last update: 30 September 2005