Calls for more controlling partners to face domestic abuse charges in South Yorkshire
A South Yorkshire charity wants better understanding of a new law - so those who control their partner at home face justice for their abuse
It's claimed more abusers who control and manipulate their partners in South Yorkshire should be facing justice for their crimes.
In the 18 months after the launch of a new law banning controlling and coersive behaviour, less than 10% of those arrested in our county ended up facing charges.
Sam Goulding's from IDAS Barnsley who support victims - she says the police and others need a better understanding of what the new law is:
"When the coercive control law came out, the police were given an online module to complete. What I'd like to see is services like ours going in and delivering that training to police of actually what it looks like for a client, what it feels like for a client to be experiencing coercive control.
"It's really encouraging that we've got this law now but we need to understand what it actually means and what it looks like in everyday practice. We're making sure we're talking to clients about what coercive control is."
In the 18 months after the new law was launched at the start of last year, 103 were arrested under it in South Yorkshire - but only 10 faced charges.
In May last year the first person to be prosecuted for the crime in our county was jailed for two years.
Sam says some victims may be dropping the charges against their perpetrators but the new law gives them a chance to tell their story in court:
"We couldn't bring into the courtroom before the story and that's what we want to try and get better at - helping clients feel they don't need to drop the charges and actually that'll be part of their recovery, to have that empowerment of being able to speak out and say this is what it was like to live like that.
"Everybody really needs to understand what coercive controlling behaviour is - the impact that can have on someone and the deprivation that it can cause from someone living an independently informed life that they choose to live. Choice has gone out the window and control has gone out the window because someone else is actually controlling them and telling them how they're going to feel."
DCI Craig Jackson from South Yorkshire Police’s Protecting Vulnerable People team said:
“All reports of coercive control are taken extremely seriously by the force and where possible, we will fully investigate and work hard to bring offenders before the courts.
“Coercive control is form of domestic abuse and it is important to raise awareness of this type of abuse and the detrimental impact it can cause.
“Domestic abuse is wide ranging and isn’t always clear to see upon first examination. Just because physical signs of abuse might not be present, it doesn’t mean that someone isn’t a victim of domestic abuse, and coercive control can be extremely damaging to a person.
“We will continue to work with partners to effectively tackle domestic abuse and coercive control, and provide the support needed to those affected."