Merseyside Police launch week of action to help women and girls suffering domestic abuse

Women and girls across Merseyside who are suffering domestic abuse are being urged to speak out to end their living nightmare

Quite often people wrongly associate VAWG with attacks that happen on the street, but this isn’t always the case and sadly it can happen in the home, which should be a safe place, and behind closed doors.

Domestic abuse can take many forms including psychological, financial, sexual, emotional and physical. It can happen to anyone, regardless of their gender, race, social class, upbringing, where they live, or who they live with.

Every domestic incident is unique to that family, or relationship, and the background to each one can be very complex.

To investigate domestic abuse Merseyside Police has a number of specialist resources it can call upon to investigate the crime and support the victim of this heinous, under-reported and often hidden crime. We are committed to ensuring that women are protected and their needs are put first in these situations.

Throughout the last year they have worked hard with partners, including the five local authorities, support agencies and the third sector, to protect and support women and girls who are faced with violence and sexual abuse.

Together they have introduced a number of initiatives, which are used alongside existing measures, to target and prevent VAWG and in relation to domestic abuse they have:

• Increased the number of officers in specialist domestic abuse teams, which investigate crimes and support survivors, to ensure the capacity to provide an effective service

• Put a focus on using all of the evidential tools in the toolbox, which allows them to gather evidence including body worn video, hearsay statements and other supporting material to drive the investigation and help reduce the emotional impact on victims

• Introduced Domestic Violence Enforcement Cars, which are staffed by specialist officers. These officers have the ability to look after the victim; take them to a safe place away from the offender to speak to them about what happened, and to acquire support from other organisations who may be able to help them with housing and financial concerns, to help them break away from the cycle of abuse they are suffering

• Operationally, the force continues to use domestic violence prevention notices (DVPNs), which are put in place to stop perpetrators having contact with the person who has been abused

• Use of Domestic Violence Disclosure Schemes (DVDS), also known as Clare’s Law. This gives someone in a relationship 'the right to ask' for information from various agencies, including the police, about a partner's previous convictions, cautions, reprimands or final warnings for any offence of violence. It also gives agencies which have responsibilities for safeguarding the public the power to disclose information to someone about their partner's violent background under 'the right to know' element of the scheme if the information is pertinent to their safety. The aim is to reduce incidents of domestic violence among both women and men at the hands of their partners by giving them the right to obtain information that could affect their decision to leave the relationship or stay in it.

• Evidence-led prosecutions which can be used in situations where the victim may decide that they don’t want to press charges. - there is a higher chance of a prosecution if evidence is captured early upon arrival at an incident. Quite often a victim will retract their statement, however they can use the evidence they capture using BWV and hearsay statements in order to maximise custody clocks and increase the likelihood of prosecution

Assistant Chief Constable Ngaire Waine said:

“Domestic abuse is never acceptable and that no-one should have to tolerate being treated this way regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. Making those first steps and reporting abuse can be daunting and there are many reasons why people find it hard to do, but there is support available, not just from the police, but other organisations too.

“Domestic abuse is a priority for the force and our work remains firmly focussed on investigating this abhorrent crime, supporting survivors and bringing offenders to justice. I want people to be confident of the measures we have in place to support them and their families with our whole partnership response.”