Domestic abuse news roundup: w/c 16th January 2023

⛓️ Blocking harassment from behind bars

Police forces, prison governors and Domestic Abuse organisations are working together to automatically block offenders who are behind bars from calling or sending threatening letters to their ex partners.

The scheme will also prevent abusers from using other offenders to contact survivors ; by barring the contact details of survivors from all prison phones.

Crucially survivors don’t have to contact the service themselves if they receive this communication, support agencies can contact service on their behalf.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Fund for preventative work approved

The Home Office has committed to £36 million fund over two years for behaviour change programmes.

The fund will allow police forces to intervene early, work with abusers to change behaviour and reduce their risk to protects victims. An example of similar initiatives from this fund is the Drive Project, which tackled serial abusing.

Evaluation from Drive showed that for dangerous abusers there was a reduction in abuse and risk amongst their clients, with 82% fewer abusers using physical violence.

💔 Emergency fund for survivors rejected

Women’s Aid have announced that the Home Office will not be funding an emergency fund for survivors of domestic abuse during the cost of living crisis.

Their CEO Farah Nazeer says, “This is more than just a financial issue, as women staying with abusers will likely mean an increase in domestic abuse offences, which is already one of the most common crimes reported to the police, and inevitably more homicides. A fund of £1 million would have been a drop in the ocean for the Home Office, yet the difference that £500 to a woman trying to leave an abuser with her children could be the difference between life and death. The prospect of leaving with nothing in your pocket for food, the bus or basic items for you and your children is utterly terrifying.”

Your weekly domestic abuse news roundup was curated by our volunteer Ellie Arnott 

Sources: gov.uk and Women’s Aid