Sharing domestic violence records patchy in practice in U.K.: official

Hollie Gazzard was 20 when she was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend at the hair salon where she worked in Gloucester, England.

Court heard her killer, Asher Maslin, had a history of domestic violence and stabbed the young woman 14 times in front of onlookers after she broke up with him.

Five years later, Gazzard’s father wonders if he may have been able help his daughter had he known about her killer’s past.

“If I knew then what I know now, I reckon I could have saved Hollie’s life because I would have seen all the signs,” Nick Gazzard said.

Clare’s Law allows someone to request information about a partner’s abusive past from police if they believe they ’re at risk. Named after another victim of domestic violence in the U.K., Clare Wood, it also allows officers to disclose a person’s violent record to someone they believe is at risk.

This fall, the Saskatchewan government proposed similar legislation, as the province grapples with the highest rates of police-reported domestic violence in the country.

Statistics show there were 48 domestic-related homicides and nine related suicides in Saskatchewan between 2005 and 2014.

Criminal records are currently confidential in Saskatchewan and can’t be shared without consent.

While the details are still being worked out, the proposed law has a “right to ask” route where a partner can request information and a “right to know” option where police can proactively disclose information to an individual.

But if the U.K. experience is any guide, the success of the law is hardly assured.

Lucy Hadley, a spokeswoman for the British domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid, said the application of Clare’s Law in the U.K. has been quite patchy since coming into force.

While the U.K.’S Office for National Statistics says police recorded 1.1 million domestic-violence incidents and crimes in the year ending March 2017, Hadley said only one in five domestic violence victims will ever contact police.

On top of that, only 34 per cent of the 2,820 “right to ask” applications under Clare’s Law resulted in disclosures that same year.

Hadley said some of the U.K.’S 43 police forces advertise Clare’s Law and encourage people to come forward, while others don’t.

It’s difficult to know whether the law has prevented domestic abuse, she said.