Family Law Inverness Latest News

The Home Secretary will be leading widespread action to improve the police response to victims of domestic violence and abuse after a report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) found systematic failings.

HMIC was commissioned by the Home Secretary in September 2013 to review all 43 police forces in England and Wales.

Findings from the report included a lack of visible leadership, frontline officers without the knowledge or experience to spot dangerous patterns of behaviour and a failure by some forces to collect evidence properly.

A new report by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) entitled ‘Violence Against Women’ has revealed that around one in two women in Britain has been physically or sexually assaulted.

Commenting on the report’s findings, Citizens Advice has said that its research suggests there could be as many as half a million people who have not reported abuse.

"Domestic abuse can tear families apart and wreck lives. Ongoing physical and emotional abuse can be made worse by acute financial pressures,” said Citizens Advice Chief Executive, Gillian Guy.

Women’s Aid, the national domestic violence charity in England, has warned that unless cuts to specialist gender-specific services end soon, an entire network of domestic violence providers in England is likely to collapse.

The warning comes as recent figures reveal that around 155 women and more than 100 children were turned away from refuges in one day in 2013.

Polly Neate, Chief Executive of Women’s Aid said:

The Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland, Brendan McGuigan, has raised concerns over the lack of progress made in how criminal justice agencies handle incidents of domestic violence and abuse.

He believes that strategic focus is required at both senior and District level within the police service to move things forward.

Reflecting on the 10% increase in the number of domestic abuse cases being recorded by police since 2009-10, Mr McGuigan said it was encouraging that more people were coming forward and reporting instances of domestic violence and abuse.

Reported incidents of domestic abuse are likely to continue to rise over the coming years, according to Lily Greenan, the Manager of Scottish Women’s Aid. Her comments come as the latest domestic abuse statistics are published.

The figures show that 60,080 incidents of domestic abuse were recorded by the police in Scotland in 2012-13 – up very slightly on the 59,847 incidents recorded in 2011-12. 

“We expect reported incidents of domestic abuse to continue to rise as the awareness of domestic abuse increases, professionals receive more training and as a result, women are encouraged to report the abuse they are experiencing to the police,” said Ms Greenan.