There should be a national outcry about the scale of domestic violence and abuse – and strong leadership from the top
by Yvette Cooper, shadow home secretary
Vera Baird, police and crime commissioner
for Northumbria, is working with employers on domestic abuse. Photograph: Mark
Pinder
Two women killed a week.
One in five 999 calls. Families driven from their homes. Lives destroyed by
fear. If there was this much violence at football matches, there would be
government taskforces, new laws, strong campaigns. Instead, the opposite is
happening. Work done over many years under the last Labour government to reduce
domestic
violence, increase the number of prosecutions and keep more victims safe has
been cut and the clock is being turned back.
The impact
of domestic abuse is immense. I've talked to a woman who was so afraid of
her husband that she locked herself in her children's bedroom each night for
months before she found the strength to leave.
Prosecutions and
convictions have fallen heavily since the last general election, in 2010. More
domestic abuse is being reported to the police. But 13% fewer cases are
being sent for prosecution, with a big drop in convictions as a result. Bluntly,
that means fewer criminals stopped and more potential victims at risk.
Legal-aid changes have made
it harder for victims to take out injunctions against abusers. And there has
been no leadership from the home secretary. Theresa
May isn't demanding the action we need.
We don't have to accept
this cycle of violence and abuse. We need strong leadership and new national
standards. Practice by police and councils varies too much. We need a new
commissioner – modelled on the children's commissioner – covering violence
against women and domestic
violence, with the power to ensure standards are raised.
It's not only about
criminal justice. Vera
Baird, Northumbria's police and crime commissioner, is doing great work in
the north-east to get employers to sign up to training and awareness. But why
isn't the government promoting this nationally, too?
And why is the government
still refusing to do more to prevent abuse
among teenagers? It's time we had updated, compulsory sex and relationship
education in schools to teach zero-tolerance of violence – to boys and girls.
Yet Michael Gove, the education secretary, opposed Labour's
amendments to the children and families bill proposing that reform.
Guardian
