Public urged to report domestic abuse cases
IAN BUNTING
Rutherglen residents and neighbours are being encouraged to report suspected domestic violence to police as attacks spiral during lockdown.
Calls to the National Abuse Hotline in the UK soared by 65 per cent last month and by 25 per cent in a five-day period two weeks ago.
With domestic violence accounting for one third of all violent crime, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has issued a new report urging all Rutherglen and Cambuslang residents to watch out for signs of domestic abuse among their neighbours in the wake of a sharp rise in attacks during lockdown.
The report, Domestic Abuse and the Lockdown, warns that just as the government has taken lockdown measures to contain the Covid-19 outbreak, traditional lifelines for vulnerable women, such as GP surgeries, churches, and hairdressers are becoming inaccessible.
These are common places for victims to tell others their harrowing stories.
Another key issue is the increasing diversion of police time and resources away from domestic abuse towards co-ordinating the lockdown.
However, the report applauds efforts by some police forces to encourage the public and frontline workers, such as supermarket staff and delivery drivers, to be on the lookout for signs of domestic abuse.
Author of the report, Cristina Odone, head of family policy at the CSJ, said: “Despite being underresourced, the police are showing themselves to be imaginative and innovative in finding ways to support victims of abuse and housing their abusers.
“But given the pressures of lockdown – anxiety about job losses, infection, disrupted services and schooling – the public should be ready to play a safeguarding role too.
“We can be the police’s extra eyes and ears, watching out for signs of abuse in our neighbours, our acquaintances, our friends and relatives.
“This is an extraordinary time, that calls for extraordinary measures.
“I would call on everyone to be on red alert. Spot the victims and blow the whistle on their abuser.”