Tackling domestic abuse now is imperative
Covid-19 has exacerbated this terrible crime so let’s use raised awareness to eradicate it completely
Today the Domestic Abuse Bill resumes its passage through Parliament. Its second reading comes in an environment that could hardly feel more different from its first in early March. In the time that has elapsed between the two, over 20 women have been murdered, police are seeing a rise in callouts and demand for domestic abuse phoneline support is surging.
These changes come as no surprise to anyone who has suffered abuse at the hands of a controlling partner or family member. Lockdown means that perpetrators can further isolate victims from sources of support, and can leave them feeling that they have nowhere to turn.
This should not come as a surprise to the Government either.
On March 16, the Department for International Development published a paper showing how the Chinese and Italian lockdowns had triggered a surge in domestic abuse. It explored how similar epidemics such as Ebola had done the same.
So, it is right that government has launched a campaign to assure victims “you are not alone” and to remind perpetrators that there is “no excuse for abuse.” The campaign, which must be sustained, reminds both victims and perpetrators that services – for both victims and those worried about their own potentially abusive behaviour – are still running.
But these services, accustomed as they are to frugality, cannot run on thin air. It seems the communications have out-paced the money that is urgently needed.
Victim helplines have seen a 25 per cent increase since lockdown began and calls to perpetrator lines have increased by 96 per cent. So far, helplines, despite Government announcements, have had no extra support to cope with this surge. It is crucial that promised money reaches the frontline fast. There might only be a few moments in which a victim feels safe to make a call or a perpetrator is willing to admit they need help. If “you are not alone” is to be a reality, the Government cannot afford to miss those moments.
Today the Domestic Abuse Bill blazes an historical trail as the first substantive legislation to proceed through a virtual UK parliament. It is good to see the Government pressing on. Legislation may be cold comfort to those feeling isolated in abusive homes now, but with the right preventative focus it could stem the tide of abuse in the longer term.
Even in “normal” times domestic abuse accounts for a third of all violent crime. That is not a “normal” any of us should get used to.
It needs to blaze another trail, too; hinted at by the Home Secretary Priti Patel when she said at the daily Downing Street press conference that “perpetrators should be the ones who have to leave the family home, not the supposed loved ones whom they torment and abuse”. This should be the route to a new era where it is perpetrators, not victims, expected to make changes in their lives.
There is some very practical work to do to make this a reality. And it is urgent. Accommodation for offenders away from the family home is more limited than ever as friends and wider family are reluctant to take them in during lockdown. Right now, magistrates are holding off issuing Domestic Violence Prevention Orders because perpetrators have nowhere to go. That approach may stop an abuser becoming homeless, but it certainly won’t keep a victim safe, not during the coronavirus epidemic or in the long term. So, when government looks at schemes to accommodate victims in need, they need to think more widely to include risk-managed solutions for perpetrators.
There is also work needed on the legislation, such as tweaks to the proposed Domestic Abuse Protection Orders to ensure that work with perpetrators always meets a safe standard and does not inadvertently put victims at further risk.
Once this lockdown is over we must not be lulled back into a sense that all is okay. For millions of people in this country domestic abuse is a terrible reality of everyday life. We should use this raised awareness to work towards stamping out this devastating crime.
Baroness Bertin sat on the Scrutiny Committee for the Domestic Abuse Bill and is Secretary for the APPG on Perpetrators of Domestic Abuse