POWYS DOMESTIC ABUSE STRATEGY
2008 - 11
Author: Margaret Richards
Powys Domestic Abuse Co-ordinator
Published December 2007
Produced on behalf of the Powys Domestic Abuse Forum
Objectives of the Strategy
The overall outcome of the strategy is:
To reduce the incidence and impact of Domestic Abuse in Powys
The strategy follows the framework of the All Wales National Strategy – Tackling Domestic Abuse.
Strategy Aims
The overall aims of the strategy are:
• To facilitate the development and implementation of a quality co-ordinated joint-agency response
• To improve the current service provision for all victims and increase the choices for those experiencing domestic abuse
• To hold abusers accountable for their behaviour
• To challenge the notion that domestic abuse is acceptable
• To increase public awareness of the issues surrounding domestic abuse
• To protect children and young people in Powys from the negative impact of domestic abuse
• To educate and inform children and young people to enable them to make informed choices.
Support for Victims
Background
All victims of domestic abuse are entitled to prompt, appropriate protection and this requires increased legal protection for victims, especially women and children, which will enable them to stay in their own homes and to feel safe there. However where the option of staying in the home is not available, it is vital that the facilities of advocacy, temporary accommodation, refuge provision and counselling are maintained and improved wherever possible. It is also important to remember that men can also be victims of domestic abuse.
A co-ordinated support network of voluntary and statutory services is essential. The support services need to be easily accessible, both within Powys and throughout Wales, particularly considering the rural nature of the county.
More information is needed on the support needs of victims and survivors from black, minority ethnic groups, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and other minority groups, including people with mental health and/ or substance misuse problems. It is particularly important to understand the relationship between domestic abuse and adult protection so that the needs of elderly victims, those with disabilities and vulnerable adults can be best met by the most appropriate service provider. Likewise, the child/adult interface needs to be fully understood to ensure that victims continue to receive the support they need as they move on from children’s to adult services.
Councils play the vital and central role in tackling domestic abuse through their own actions and helping through funding and coordinating the actions of partners. To highlight the need for sustained local authority action, and demonstrating that domestic abuse is not an issue for the criminal justice system alone, the government has published a revised Best Value Performance Indicator (BVPI 225) for domestic abuse. There are many reasons why local authorities need to tackle domestic abuse. Local government has statutory responsibilities to work in partnership with other agencies to reduce crime and disorder. And, with domestic abuse making up 25% of all recorded violent crime, the impact is obvious. What is less well documented is the impact that domestic abuse has on local authority services such as housing, homelessness, and social services. Key Objectives • To ensure that people are offered appropriate and consistent support and information across the county through a range of media including the internet, leaflets and directories and in a range of locations to enable secure, easy access. • To prevent and reduce homelessness due to domestic abuse. • To facilitate victims remaining safely in their homes should they choose to do so. • To ensure that sufficient, housing related support services are accessible across Powys. • To reduce repeat victimisation and harm. • To ensure that victims from all minority groups receive information regarding the specialist support they may need and that diversity is reflected in any work undertaken. • To ensure that the interface between adult protection and domestic abuse is understood and addressed. • To enable that all front line professionals dealing with victims of domestic abuse have access to training to identify domestic abuse and are able to signpost and make appropriate referrals. • To encourage employers to recognise domestic abuse is an issue so that victims are supported at work. Protection and Justice - Perpetrator Accountability
Background
This focuses on the role of the individual criminal justice agencies and at how partnerships and Local Criminal Justice Boards (LCJBs) can work more closely together. It also includes programmes for perpetrators and where to go for further information.
The Welsh Assembly Government is committed to positive action on issues of domestic abuse. Domestic abuse must be addressed pro-actively in all areas of Wales, in partnership with front-line agencies. Violence against women is also an issue that cuts across ethnicity, age, disability and other categories. Girls and young women are more likely to experience sexual violence; older women are more likely to be abused by carers than older men; women with mental health problems and learning disabilities are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence and yet these groups are least likely to see the perpetrator brought to justice.
This strategy aims to encourage measures which hold abusers accountable for their behaviour in such a way as to effectively deter future abuse and reduce repeat victimisation. Any work with perpetrators needs to recognise that perpetrators may be young people abusing their parents or other family members as well as adult men abusing their female partners and that these very different relationships may need to be addressed in different ways. Working with perpetrators who are still living with their family is an important part of the support needed for children and young people and demonstrates a clear link to the previous strategic priority to support children and young people. It is also important to recognise that the criminal justice agencies (Police, Crown Prosecution Service, Probation and the Courts) need to work closely together to ensure that perpetrators are arrested, charged and a successful conviction secured. Victims and witnesses need to be able to have confidence in the criminal justice process and to be supported and protected at all stages of a prosecution. Key Objectives • To adopt a positive and proactive response by the Police and other criminal justice agencies to enable an increased number of perpetrators to be arrested and brought to justice. • To contribute to the increased capacity of statutory services to provide perpetrator programmes. • To highlight and promote the view that abusers are accountable for their behaviour and that domestic abuse is unacceptable.
Prevention and Early Intervention
Background
This considers changing attitudes, particularly those of children and young people, and ensuring victims receive the information they need to improve their safety. This might be through agencies such as health services or through public awareness raising. The evidence of the link between domestic abuse and child abuse is well documented and the hidden implications for children’s emotional, educational and social well-being point towards a need to better support them. Part of this should involve preventative work in schools to promote healthy relationships, as well as dealing with children who are already affected. This should include recognising that young people may be direct victims if they are involved in an abusive relationship themselves. Work to support all children and young people affected by domestic abuse should be paramount as it significantly reduces offending and homelessness and improves health, education and employment prospects. The changes to children’s services as a result of Every Child Matters1, present an ideal opportunity to include domestic abuse in children’s service provision. Key Objectives • To ensure that children and young people affected by domestic abuse either as a single factor or together with other contributory factors, such as problematic use of alcohol and/or drugs, mental health issues, or disabilities, are identified and protected from further harm in a multi-agency arena. • To enable children and young people affected by domestic abuse to develop to their full potential. • To ensure that children who are vulnerable as a result of domestic abuse are identified and that they, and their non-abusing parent, are supported safely by a co-ordinated response from agencies. • To promote resources to support the development of services specifically for children and young people who are the victims of domestic abuse. • To make available to children and young people, and their parents and carers, information about healthy relationships and the impact of violence and abuse. • To promote the training of any professionals working with children and young people in education, youth work, social care and the voluntary sector to give them the skills necessary to enable them to recognise domestic abuse and respond appropriately. • To encourage services for children affected by domestic abuse to be planned and co-ordinated and linked into existing services where appropriate. • To endorse that domestic abuse is recognised as a child protection issue. It is clear that many professionals, members of the public and even victims themselves may still not understand what domestic abuse is and thus how it impacts. It is vitally important that people understand that domestic abuse has an emotional and psychological impact, and it is not always physical. It is also important that professionals, who deal with victims of domestic abuse during the course of their work, are well trained so that they recognise domestic abuse and deal with it sensitively and appropriately. This should be underpinned by clear policies in the organisation, that set out both support for service users and the organisations own employees. Many organisations have not yet addressed domestic abuse as a workplace issue and there is a high need and demand for training and increased awareness. Domestic abuse should also be incorporated into other training structures such as child protection and vulnerable adult protection. Those working in the field of domestic abuse should undergo training in both these areas as a matter of priority. Consideration should be given to the introduction of quality standards for domestic abuse training. Key Objectives • To deliver an annual programme of awareness raising events, involving the media wherever possible and to ensure that raising awareness is an ongoing process • To ensure that awareness raising materials are consistently accessible across Powys and displayed in a wide range of public places across the county with new outlets for information continually being identified. • To advance and support basic awareness training to all practitioners working with victims, including the incorporation of domestic abuse elements into other training programmes and staff development. Although there is already a robust structure in the form of the Powys Domestic Abuse Forum for co-ordinated work between member organisations, there is further improvement needed to ensure seamless information sharing.
Research indicates that the central collection and monitoring of domestic abuse data is vital in enabling the full extent of the problem to be understood. Existing services already have information on domestic abuse and are being encouraged to share this. Any information sharing for monitoring purposes should be covered by an information sharing protocol that includes both statutory and voluntary agencies and organisations.
Key Objectives • To recognise the importance of the Domestic Abuse Forum Co-ordinator post to ensure delivery of the strategy and to achieve joined up working and to secure funding and other support work. • To support the development of agency’s capabilities to collect information on domestic abuse and for them to commit to share this as part of ongoing monitoring to establish the true extent of the problem.
Appendix 1 1. Introduction
1.1 The Government is committed to helping prevent domestic violence, improving the support and protection for victims and their children and bringing those who are perpetrators of this horrific crime to justice. The Government’s strategic approach to domestic violence was developed following consultation in 2003 on ‘Safety and Justice: The Government’s Proposals on Domestic Violence. It centred on three areas: Prevention; Protection and justice; and Support. This consultation also informed the development of the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act (2004). The Welsh Assembly also has also developed the All Wales Domestic Violence Strategy.
As outlined in the All Wales Domestic Abuse Strategy, developing domestic violence strategies should be an integral part of the existing Community Safety Partnership Plans. A strategic framework requires specific strategies and plans to tackle, monitor and evaluate domestic violence.
1.2 The Powys Community Safety Partnership (CSP) was formed as a requirement of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and is made up of responsible authorities including the Local Health Board, County Council, Police, Police Authority and the Fire and Rescue Service. The Powys CSP has put in place structures to enable multi agency activity working to the overall aim of keeping Powys strong, safe and secure and contributing to improving the quality of life for all those who work, live and visit the County.
1.3 The Powys Domestic Abuse Forum is a multi-agency partnership of statutory and voluntary organisations who are involved with or who may come into contact with those experiencing domestic abuse or violence. The Forum is integral to the Powys Community Safety Strategy and is linked to Powys Area Child Protection Committee (ACPC) and vulnerable adults’ procedures (APC). Its members have adopted and work to agreed Terms of Reference which encompass the sharing of good practice and joint working procedures when supporting women, children and men who are experiencing domestic abuse and also when dealing with perpetrators of domestic abuse. Its members are well placed to identify children who may be in need, whilst working with parents who are experiencing or have experienced Domestic Abuse.
Appendix 2 2. Definitions
Domestic Abuse – ‘Domestic Abuse is best described as the use of physical and/or emotional abuse or violence, including undermining of self confidence, sexual violence or the threat of violence, by a person who is or has been in a close relationship.
Domestic abuse can go beyond actual physical violence. It can also involve emotional abuse, the destruction of a spouse’s or partner’s property, their isolation from friends, family or other potential sources of support, threats to others including children, control over access to money, personal items, food, transportation and the telephone, and stalking.
It can also include violence perpetrated by a son, a daughter or any other person who has a close or blood relationship with the victim/survivor. It can also include violence inflicted on, or witnessed by, children. The wide adverse effects of living with domestic abuse for children must be recognised as a child protection issue. The effects can be linked to poor educational achievement, social exclusion and to juvenile crime, substance abuse, mental health problems and homelessness from running away. Domestic abuse is not a ‘one-off’ occurrence; it is frequent and persistent.’ (The Welsh National Strategy)
Types of domestic abuse
• Physical abuse, slapping, punching, grabbing, pushing, biting, pinching, choking/strangulation, burning, kicking, breaking bones using weapons including household items, shooting, head butting, suffocation, hair pulling, drowning, elbowing, destroying property, injuring or killing family pets, causing a miscarriage;
• Sexual abuse, sexual jokes, criticism of sexuality, unwanted sexual touching, demanding sex, name calling using sexually degrading comments, forced to look at or engage in pornography, buggery, snuff movies, mutilation of genitalia, use of objects, demanding or coercive sex following pregnancy or surgery, child abuse/incest and rape;
• Psychological/emotional abuse, name calling, ignoring, shouting, belittling, humiliation in private or in public, demands for attention, threats of violence, threats against children and pets or extended family, isolation from family/friends, questioning mental status, deprivation of sleep;
• Financial or economic abuse, forced financial dependence, does not allow the victim to work or gets the victim sacked, controls the money, making the victim ask for money, not allowing the victim to know status or have access to family income; Domestic Violence The definition of domestic violence has been widened to include "…any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between adults who are or have been in a relationship together, or between family members, regardless of gender or sexuality". (Home Office) Under the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, a vulnerable adult is classed as "a person aged 16 or over whose ability to protect himself from violence, abuse or neglect is significantly impaired through physical or mental disability or illness, through old age or otherwise” (s6). "a person is to be regarded as a "member" of a particular household, even if he does not live in that household, if he visits it so often and for such periods of time that it is reasonable to regard him as a member of it" (s5)
If a child is involved who may have witnessed domestic violence, there is a statutory duty to report this to CYPD.
“Domestic Abuse is the largest cause of morbidity in women aged 19-44, greater than war, cancer and motor vehicle accidents. Domestic abuse is usually a hidden crime. Victims suffer silently, afraid for themselves and their children. The trauma and long-term effects suffered by children living in a violent household is incalculable. Domestic abuse is rarely a one-off physical attack and it can often have a highly significant, long term and wide ranging impact on all who experience it. No-one deserves to be assaulted, abused or humiliated, there is no excuse. The only person responsible is the perpetrator.” Tackling Domestic Abuse: The All Wales National Strategy.
In Powys, we believe that it is the responsibility of everyone working in the statutory, voluntary, private and community sector to be able to recognise instances of domestic abuse and to address them effectively as part of their core business. Domestic abuse is a crime generally committed in private and behind closed doors without witnesses. Victims and those around them may not recognise that what is happening to them is domestic violence. This leads to high levels of non-reporting of incidents, making it very difficult to accurately assess the true extent of the problem. Domestic Violence is unique in that the victim knows the perpetrator, may be related to them and has an emotional attachment to them. Appendix 3 3. The costs of Domestic Abuse
National Costs
The total cost of domestic violence to services and the economy is £5.7 billion a year (excluding the human and emotional cost to individuals estimated at over £17 billion a year). These costs include:
• Social Services: the annual cost is nearly £0.25 billion. This is overwhelmingly for children rather than adults, especially those caught up in the co-occurrence of domestic violence and child abuse. • Housing: the provision of emergency housing (including local housing authority and housing association costs for housing those homeless because of domestic violence); housing benefit for such emergency housing; and refuges. This amounts to £0.16 billion a year. • Criminal Justice System costs around £1 billion a year. The largest single component of that is for the Police. • Health Care costs to the NHS for physical injuries amount to £1.2 billion a year. This includes GPs and hospitals. The estimate for mental health care is an additional £176 million. • Economic output: lost economic output accounts for £2.7 billion a year. This is the cost of time off work due to injuries.
This does not take into account the real cost of human suffering and emotional pain, which cannot be accurately measured but is estimated at over £17 billion. The costs of Domestic Abuse in Powys.
The Cost of Domestic Violence Report by Sylvia Walby of the Women & Equality Unit, published in September 2004, stated that the cost per person was £440 and the cost per domestic violence incident was £12,789. Similar research carried out in Hackney in 1998 estimated the cost of domestic violence to be £60 per household per year, based on police, criminal justice system, housing, refuge, social services and health costs.
Application of the 2004 Report to the population of Powys in 2005, which was 131,500, the cost to the County would have been £57.9 million and using the figure of £12,789 per domestic incident (applied to an estimated figure for 2007/08 of incidents attended by Police) gives a cost of £6.5 million. In reality the cost to Powys will be somewhere between these figures but is, in any case, a significant figure.
Appendix 4 4. The Scale of the Problem
Where data relating to domestic abuse is collected by agencies within Powys, the approaches to it are inconsistent, making it difficult to analyse.
• Recorded crimes resulting from domestic violence and the number of incidents of domestic abuse in Powys are decreasing (although it is not possible to assess whether this is due to a decrease in the occurrence of domestic abuse or decreased reporting by victims.) • Police data indicates that alcohol is a contributing factor in approximately 65% of the domestic abuse cases. • Children are involved in more than 50% of the incidents of domestic abuse in the County. • There are an increasing number of male victims, but victims of domestic abuse are still predominantly female (as shown by Police data) • 109 victims of domestic abuse have entered Refuges in Powys during 2006/7, nine of whom were men fleeing domestic abuse. However the majority of these victims came from Refuges in other parts of Britain. Therefore it is extremely difficult to calculate how many are normally resident in Powys or indeed how many people who experience domestic abuse in Powys actually leave their home. • Children are involved in a large number of cases and domestic abuse is the most common reason for registering children according to an Audit on Compromised Parenting. • The same Audit showed that the children on the Child Protection Register (CPR) due to domestic abuse circumstances did not then automatically progress to become Looked After Children (LAC) – showing that services already in place to deal with domestic abuse and its effects are working positively. Other contributory factors such as Mental Health and Substance Misuse showed that similar improvement was not evident and more work needed to be done in those areas.
Appendix 5 5. Local Powys Context
Domestic Violence features as a key strategic priority in the Powys Community Safety Strategy 2005-2008. Priority actions include:
• Support and assist service provision to victims and survivors • Target perpetrators of domestic abuse by making them aware of help available but to also publicise the message that there is no excuse for domestic abuse. • Challenge tolerant attitudes of domestic abuse. • Develop further advice and information on domestic abuse and ways to distribute. • Provide domestic abuse training for staff in Social Services and Health. • Review current provision of post adult abuse support and treatment services and identify the range of provision to be developed.
The Powys Domestic Abuse Forum, in addition, identifies key responsibilities to:
• Improve the response of all agencies addressing domestic abuse and its consequences by developing a consistent approach • Encourage reporting of domestic abuse by increasing the confidence of survivors in the ability of agencies to provide support, safety and protection • Reduce the incidence of domestic abuse and repeat victimisation • Eliminate tolerance of domestic abuse by raising public awareness and increasing knowledge and understanding • Enhance protection for children as well as adults in situations of domestic abuse • Promote a comprehensive and geographically consistent range of services for victims and perpetrators.
The Forum also lists its objectives as to:
• Achieve consensus about the nature of domestic abuse. • Create effective inter-agency communication systems. • Establish consistent reporting procedures. • Develop multi-agency strategies and protocols that will enable each agency to respond effectively. • Establish a database that will reveal the extent and nature of domestic abuse within agreed protocols. • Create joint training programmes. • Develop strong links to related organisations such as those working with children and young people. • Build effective communication links with relevant media organisations.
Dyfed-Powys Police, a key partner in the Forum, highlight the protection of vulnerable persons as one of their key priorities. Public Protection Units are now well established within the Force and located within each Basic Command Unit (BCU). These units are led by a Detective Inspector who manages a team of specialist officers responsible for child and adult abuse investigations, domestic abuse, and the management of sex and violent offenders. Domestic Abuse is a crime that will not be tolerated by Dyfed-Powys Police.
The Force’s priorities in responding to domestic abuse are:
• To protect the lives of both adults and children who are at risk. • To investigate all reports of domestic abuse. • To take positive effective action against offenders so that they can be held accountable through the criminal justice system. • To reduce repeat incidents.
The Force has taken an active lead in developing a multi-agency domestic abuse risk assessment process, which aims to identify those persons who are most at risk of abuse and allows risk reduction measures to be implemented. The Force is also working closely with both statutory and voluntary local agencies to support the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) in Carmarthen. This is the first of its kind in Dyfed-Powys and is designed to be a one-stop-shop for both adult and child victims of rape and other serious sexual offences providing an enhanced service to victims of those crimes. Additionally, a Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) unit has been set-up at Police Headquarters, jointly funded with the Probation Service. Staff within the unit will take responsibility for the convening and administration of MAPPA meetings within the Force and will further professionalise the management of Sex and Violent Offenders living within our communities. The Force recognises the importance of working closely with partner agencies at a strategic and local level in all aspects of this work and is committed to maximising the potential for joint collaboration.
Powys County Council Housing
One of the main categories of homelessness applicants is people fleeing violent relationships. However the problem is far from confined to homelessness situations and can impact on the supply of and demand for housing and the ways in which landlords manage tenancies where domestic abuse is an issue. PCC Housing will work with the victims of domestic abuse and support networks to ensure that a range of preventative and remedial options is available, including refuges, floating support and advice and assistance. PCC Housing will also ensure that members of staff are properly trained to deal knowledgeably and sympathetically with cases in which domestic abuse is a feature.
Supporting People
Substance Misuse
It is the intention of the Forum to support the objectives of the Substance Misuse Strategy, especially with regard to the education and information of young people and the reduction in alcohol and drug related crime.
Women who misuse alcohol and other drugs are more likely to have been abused, both in childhood and adult life, than women generally. The substance misuse seems more likely to be in response to the abuse, rather than a causal factor, and it is suggested that women who have experienced abuse may turn to alcohol as a way of deadening the pain: a self-prescribed medication (Ettorre, 1997).
Asian women’s use and misuse of alcohol is most often associated with other problems, including isolation and marital difficulties (including violence: 42% of clients at one Asian counselling service experience domestic violence). Similarly, women drug users have a high incidence of trauma, and as many as 70% may have experienced abuse.
Women who misuse substances are in a particularly vulnerable position, and are likely to find it even harder to report domestic violence than other women.
There is a clear and established link between domestic abuse and substance misuse. Children who live with domestic violence are at increased risk of behavioural problems and emotional trauma, and mental health difficulties, self harm, suicide and drug and alcohol misuse in adult life (Mullender, A. and Morley, R. Children living with domestic violence)
Powys County Council Adult Protection
It is the intention of the Forum to support the objectives of the Protection of Vulnerable Adults Policy, especially with regard to Human Rights and the underlying values of Independence, Dignity, Respect, Quality, Privacy and Choice.
All members of the Forum will take responsibility to comply with the responsibilities laid out in the POVA Policy and Procedure document.
Mental Health
There is a clear link between domestic violence and mental ill health: abuse - both in childhood or adult life - is often a precursor of and a causal factor in the development of mental health issues, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and self-harming behaviour.
• Violence against women is probably the most prevalent cause of depression in women, and of other mental health difficulties. • Domestic violence, rape and sexual assault also commonly result in self-harm and attempted suicide. • Self-harm seems to be used particularly by women of South Asian origin • One-third of all female suicide attempts are by women experiencing domestic violence. • Women mental health service users are much more likely to have experienced domestic violence than women in the general population
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