Domestic abuse arrests increase

Thames Valley: Cases still underreported, says charity

Action taken by police against perpetrators of domestic abuse has increased significantly in recent months – alongside ‘strengthened’ relationships with support charities.

Police have released data on crimes and arrests across six months from April 1 to September 30, covering the whole Thames Valley area.

Thames Valley Police attended more than 90,340 incidents (almost 500 a day) in total and made 15,000 arrests. More than 30 per cent of these were related to domestic abuse.

Formal action taken against domestic abuse offenders increased by 44 per cent, from around 1,400 to 2,030. More than 4,490 domestic abuse related arrests were made.

Nicola Miller, chief executive of the Dash (Domestic Abuse Stops Here) charity in Slough, said that domestic abuse remains underreported to police and thus ‘it is difficult to get a true picture’.

“Having said that, we believe we have a strong partnership with the police and other agencies – and a close connection with Thames Valley Police in particular,” she said.

“It think the relationship we have with the police, and the one they have with us, has really strengthened – and that needs to remain.”

Whereas before, the pandemic was keeping people in domestically abusive homes, now it is the cost-of-living

crisis.

“It’s preventing people wanting to leave, not knowing how they are going to be able to afford to move away, to escape with their children,” said Nicola.

“We’re concerned how this will play out. Some domestic abuse leads to people being killed – we don’t want that to become more of a risk.”

Police have also been working specifically on tackling violence against women and girls.

Between April and September, the number of charges for sexual offences in Thames Valley increased by 105 per cent, rape by eight per cent and stalking and harassment by 45 per cent.

Part of the violence against women and girls is domestic abuse – Dash supports victims of any gender but notes that women and girls remain more at risk.

As such, taking action on violence against women and girls is ‘a really positive part of what police are trying to do’.

Contact The Dash Charity via its website www.thedashcharity.org,uk or call the helpline on 01753 549865 or email info@thedash charity.org.uk

You can also find it on social media at facebook. com/TheDashCharity1 and @TheDashCharity on Twitter and Instagram.

Its helpline is available Monday to Wednesday 9.30am-2.30pm, and Thursday to Friday 9.30am4pm.

If you need help outside these hours, leave a message if it’s safe to do so – or send a message via the form on its website. The team will call you back as soon as they can, the next working day.