Domestic violence and abuse is:

"Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. The abuse can encompass, but is not limited to:

• psychological
• physical
• sexual
• financial
• emotional

Controlling behaviour - Controlling behaviour is a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour.

Coercive behaviour - Coercive behaviour is an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim".

The definition of domestic violence and abuse, which is not  a legal definition, includes so called 'honour' based violence, female genital mutilation (FGM) and Forced Marriage and is clear that victims are not confined to one gender or ethnic group.

LOCAL PROTOCOLS AND PROCESSES

To help organisations and individual members of staff understand how they are expected to work together to support people experiencing domestic abuse and the pathways and processes involved, Safer Wolverhampton partnership have agreed an Overarching Domestic Violence and Abuse Protocols and Guidance document.

Click here for the Wolverhampton Overarching Domestic Violence and Abuse Protocol and Guidance document

To help identify people who may require support around domestic violence and abuse, it has been agreed that the Safe Lives Dash Risk Assessment will routinely be used by all organisations and their staff

Click here for the Safe Lives Dash Risk Assessment Checklist

Click here for more  information about  Wolverhampton Domestic Violence Perpetrator Programme

HOW COMMON IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND ABUSE?

Domestic abuse is very common and affects one in four women in their lifetime. Although most victims of domestic abuse are women and most abusers are men, domestic abuse can affect anyone.

Key Statistics

• Seven women a month are killed by a current or former partner in England and Wales (ONS (2015), Crime Survey England and Wales 2013-2014. London: Office For National Statistics).
• Domestic violence has a higher rate of repeat victimisation than any other crime (Home Office, July 2002)
• On average the police receive an emergency call relating to domestic abuse every 30 seconds (HMIC, Everyone’s business: Improving the police response to domestic abuse (Published online: HMIC, 2014), p. 5.)

Whilst statistics are useful, they do not always provide us with the full picture. It is important to remember domestic violence and abuse is an hidden crime, that happens behind closed doors and victims are not always able to come forward and disclose what is happening to them.

HOW WILL I KNOW IF SOMEONE IS A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND ABUSE?

Many victims feel unable to come forward and talk about their experience. There are many barriers to seeking help arising from the emotional, practical or social impact of domestic violence and abuse. They may include:

• Feeling ashamed
• Afraid their abuser will find out
• Afraid they wont be believed
• Loyalty
• Concerns that their children will be taken away
• Impairment
• Lack of knowledge/access to support services/resources/financial or otherwise
• Religious or cultural expectations
• Not being asked

Therefore regular screening protocols to identify domestic violence and abuse issues are essential, some example questions are as follows:

• "As abuse in the home is so common we now ask our clients about it routinely. Does a partner, or anyone at home, hurt, hit or threaten you?"
• Does your partner/family ever stop you from doing the things you want to do?

HOW CAN I SUPPORT A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND ABUSE?

• Listen, tell them you believe them and they are not to blame
• Empathise and don't judge or blame the person for what happened
• Provide a private, quiet space (where you will not be interrupted or overheard)
• See the victim on their own, without the partner, children, carer or relatives
• Use professional interpreters when required, NOT a friend, relative or someone form the local community
• Do not offer mediation, joint counselling or family conferences as a option
• Emphasise confidentiality but explain its limits eg if children are at risk or victim is at high risk of harm
• Establish if there is any  immediate risk, if so consider contacting emergency resources such as Police or Refuge accommodation. Ask is it safe to go home? What threats have been made? What are you afraid might happen?
• Keep accurate records of decisions and actions.
• Risk assess and signpost victims to appropriate specialist services. 

West Midlands Forced Marriage & Honour Based Abuse 24hr Multi Lingual Helpline 0800 953 9777       

Click to download -   HBV Leaflet 1   HBV Leaflet 2

A 'forced' marriage (as distinct from a consensual "arranged" one) is defined as one, which is conducted without the valid consent of at least one of the parties and where duress is a factor. Duress cannot be justified on religious or cultural grounds.

Forced marriage is primarily, but not exclusively, an offence of violence against women. Most cases involve young women between 13 and 30, although evidence suggests as many as 15% of victims are male.

Forced marriage is a CRIME. It is a form of violence against women and men, domestic abuse, a serious abuse of human rights, and where a minor is involved, child abuse.

While it is important to have an understanding of the motives that drive parents to force their children to marry, these motives should not be accepted as justification for denying them the right to choose a marriage partner and enter freely into marriage.

A person’s capacity to consent can change. With the right support and knowledge, a person with a learning disability may move from a position of lacking capacity to consent to marriage, to having capacity. However, some children and adults with learning disabilities are given no choice and/or do not have the capacity to give informed consent to marriage and all it entails.

One Chance Rule

All practitioners working with victims of forced marriage and HBV need to be aware of the “one chance‟ rule. That is, they may only have one chance to speak to a potential victim and may only have one chance to save a life.

This means that all practitioners working within statutory agencies need to be aware of their responsibilities and obligations when they become aware of potential forced marriage cases. If the victim is allowed to walk out the door without support being offered, that one chance might be wasted. 

Forced Marriage is a Child Protection issue. Children’s Social Care has a duty to investigate allegations of abuse and is seen as one of the agencies with a key role to play in the statutory guidance of “Handling Cases of Forced Marriage”. If an allegation of forced marriage is made, or a child/young person discloses that they are at risk, a section 47 investigation should take place. This will be done without parental consent. 

Click here for HM GOV Awareness of Forced Marriage elearning course

Click here for the HM Goverment's, Multi-agency practice guidelines: Handling cases of Forced Marriage

Click here for the HM Goverment's, The Right to Choose: Multi-agency statutory guidance for dealing with forced marriage

Click here for Overarching Domestic Violence Protocol 2018

Honour crimes' include forced marriage, abduction and homicide. These crimes now come under the definition of domestic violence as a result of the government's definition of domestic violence being extended to include acts perpetrated by extended family members as well as intimate partners.

Professionals involved with cases of forced marriage should bear in mind that the response of mediation can be extremely dangerous. Refusal to go through with a forced marriage has been linked in the past to murder of the non-consenting, usually female, person and young people have been murdered while mediation is ongoing.

The victim should always be interviewed on their own and consideration given to the need for immediate protection and placement away from the family. Never allow the young person to have unsupervised contact with their family even if they request it.

Karma Nirvana Honour Network Helpline

Karma Nirvana is a national charity working to support victims of forced marriage and honour-based violence. They run a 24/7 helpline for victims of forced marriage and honour-based violence as well as for professional sand others workign to support the victims. All call-handlers have experience of assessing risk in cases of forced marriage and honour-based violence.

To get free and confidential help call 0800 5999 247

The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) operates a public helpline to provide advice and support to victims of forced marriage as well as to professionals dealing with cases. The assistance provided ranges from simple safety advice, through to aiding a victim to prevent their unwanted spouse moving to the UK (‘reluctant sponsor’ cases), and, in extreme circumstances, to rescues of victims held against their will overseas.

Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7008 0151
Email: fmu@fco.gov.uk