Council buildings to act as ‘places of safety’ for women and girls
In April the council approved its new Domestic Abuse Policy
A Nottinghamshire council is training all of its staff how to spot the signs of violence against women and girls so its buildings can become ‘places of safety’.
Newark and Sherwood District Council has been reviewing its policies, procedures, and practices in a bid to make the district a safer place for women and girls – particularly those experiencing domestic abuse.
Cllr Paul Taylor (Lab), portfolio holder for public protection and community relations, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “One in four women will be subject to violence nationally, and clearly we have to do something.
“We are working closely with the Police and Crime Commissioner to address this as a council. We are training all our staff on it, and making all our buildings places of safety.
“Women and girls can come to our buildings and get support from people trained in how to deal with these situations.”
Cllr Taylor said the authority had further committed to achieving a domestic abuse awareness accreditation, with work towards this having started in December last year.
Last year the authority took the first steps to achieving Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) Accreditation, which it describes as a benchmark for how housing providers across the UK should respond to domestic abuse.
This has involved a review of its policies, procedures, and practices to make sure they support those experiencing or having survived domestic abuse, as well as training its entire workforce to increase awareness of the signs of domestic abuse and how to support survivors.
In April the council approved its new Domestic Abuse Policy, which went out for public consultation the same month.
Domestic abuse specialist Christie Conroy, of Nottinghamshire Women’s Aid, has been coordinating the council’s accreditation.
She said: “DAHA is seen as best practice in facilitating responses to domestic abuse, so it is a positive step that Newark and Sherwood District Council is undertaking this accreditation.
“Nottinghamshire is the first county in the UK to utilise a specialist domestic abuse provider to support them in this process. Local authority teams are ideally placed to identify when domestic abuse is happening early and offer support before the abuse escalates.
“We want to ensure a joined up, holistic approach to tackling domestic abuse, ensuring referral pathways are in place with partner agencies so survivors can be supported and enabled to make informed choices.
“An audit of the whole council, focusing on policy, process and practice around domestic abuse is set to take place, which will include writing and reviewing policies, instilling good practice within teams and ensuring all processes are survivor-led.
“This process will ensure all employees are aware of domestic abuse, understand how to support a survivor and how to hold perpetrators to account for the abuse.”
Accreditation typically takes 18 months, the council says.