Domestic Abuse Bill is "a long time coming", says Worcester survivor
Today MPs will debate amendments made by the House of Lords
The Domestic Abuse Bill has been described as "a long time coming" by a domestic abuse survivor from Worcestershire.
Today MPs are discussing several amendments proposed by the House of Lords including creating a 'stalkers' register' for prolific domestic abuse and stalker perpetrators.
The backdrop to the parliamentary debate has been an increase in domestic abuse during lockdown.
The Bill is in now its final stages before it's passed for Royal Assent however campaigners, victims and survivors say it still doesn't address some key issues.
Jennifer Cole, a domestic abuse survivor from Worcester, said:
"Domestic abuse is clearly something that isn't going to go away and although it's too late for some people this has got the potential to help an awful lot of people in the future.
"I'm not too sure about the stalkers' register as the police already have records such as the national database and if the register isn;t going to be publicised then i'm not too sure who it benefits.
"The only benefit it might have is for the police but have the police got time and caacity to be overseeing that on top of everything else they've got to do?
"And if they've got time to be doing that then actually that time could be better spent perhaps training their officers a little bit better because there's such poor understanding with the police".
Other proposals include making non-fatal strangulation a specific offence. It currently can only be prosecuted against under Actual Bodily Harm (ABH) and this can sometimes prove difficult if there's no evidence of physical marks left on the victim.
However Jennifer says more effort needs to go into training as well.
She continued:
"There's very little understanding from magistrates, judges and some police officers.
"I would love to be involved in going and speaking with these people and giving them some of the training they need.
I know they have training from family lawyers and solicitors and domestic abuse charities but I think there needs to be a forum where they can actually speak to the victims and try and understand it from their point of view."
Jennifer says there needs to be "a completely overhaul of the system" in order to allow fresh blood to enter the criminal justice system with fresh attitudes to ensuring victims are prioritised.