Having just watched the Channel 4 Dispatches program on Domestic Violence, I thought it would be the appropriate time to discuss this topic from my perspective, as someone who deals with offenders and victims of domestic violence on a regular basis.
The documentary examined the disclosure legislation known as ‘Clare’s Law’ which allows those who are in a relationship with someone who they suspect has an abusive past, or are linked to someone in a potentially abusive relationship, to make an application for disclosure to be made to the potential victim. This disclosure would, if they weren’t already in the picture, make them aware of the risk they may be exposing themselves to. This process was created in the hope that it would lower the risk of men and women becoming victims of fatal attacks such as the one that claimed the life of Clare Wood who was strangled by her ex-boyfriend in 2009. Her death was the catalyst for the current scheme which carries her name and is being piloted by four Police forces.
I agree that a process should exist where those in a relationship and who potentially bring children into that relationship (either from previous relationships or by becoming parents with their current partner) deserve the right to be protected from violence, and to know more about their partner than the law previously allowed. We are expected to provide details of previous convictions when we apply for a job. Why should a new partner in a personal relationship be considered less deserving of this kind of disclosure than a prospective employer? The direct involvement of Police and other agencies in the process should also provide a quality control regarding the information given. Many employment questionnaires rely on the honesty of the employee to make full disclosure – this is often falsified or adapted to show the employee in a more favourable and less accurate light. Only if CRB checks are completed does a more complete picture become available and even that only records conviction data. Even the CRB check excludes information relating to arrests and patterns other non-prosecuted incidents that Clare’s Law allows for consideration.
The most shocking aspect of the current process I saw tonight, is that should the potential victim be unavailable to the disclosure team then consideration is given to approaching the prospective offender instead. Now this opens up a whole can of worms in my opinion. The anything-is-better-than-nothing attitude toward the protection of a vulnerable party; attempting to ward off possible attacks by telling the offender that ‘we know what you have done before and we are watching you’ is a huge risk. The example used in the program demonstrated this and described how the offender had become angry about the potential for his past to be brought to the attention of his new partner, and to make things worse, appeared to have alienated the potential victim to the extent where they then refused to speak to Police when contact was eventually made. The opportunity for the offender to minimise the previous events and ‘prep’ their partner for the information that they might be passed by the Police is enormous. It might even provoke an aggressive confrontation should the offender think their partner is the one that has requested the information and take it out on them!
Finally, as we all love a few statistics (especially those that show a dramatic and overwhelming result), we were informed of the results of a survey conducted by people in refuge accommodation. The 189 people were asked if they would have liked to have been told about a partners past and if they would have left that relationship if they had discovered their partner had a violent history. 94% and 75% respectively answered yes to those two questions which seems to give a huge amount of support to the scheme. I think it is worth pointing out that these people are those that have been strong enough to make a break from the abuse they were suffering and would also be those who have suffered the most serious abuse, allowing them to secure one of the tiny number of refuge places available in England and Wales. I am not going to suggest that the figures are wildly inaccurate, but the program has undoubtedly surveyed those most likely to answer yes to both questions. I would welcome the results of a wider survey of people currently in a relationship, both abusive and non-abusive, to see what the involvement of a more broad demographic does to the results.
*******************************
I think that there are already many additional checks and balances in place for incidents of domestic violence as a result of cases such as the tragic death of Clare Wood and others. These provide a far clearer picture of risk than previously existed and allow for more appropriate action to be taken by those responsible for the welfare of the victims. There are, however, failings in the system when it comes to getting those who abuse and continue to abuse an appropriate punishment from the Courts.
All too often, those that are charged get a pointless smack on the wrist and are allowed to return to the relationship with no lasting sanctions in place – free to re-start the cycle all over again.
All too often, those that aren’t charged are released because there was no ‘independent’ evidence and the victim is not sporting a broken arm or fractured skull or refuses to provide a statement to support a prosecution. These are the people who are, I feel, most significantly failed by the system. They often represent the most long-suffering and down-trodden of victims and are, quite possibly, those most in need of help. Their fear of their abuser and, paradoxically, their co-existing love for them prevents the current system from taking any reliable action to safeguard their future. We can take the abuser into custody against their wishes a hundred times, but unless they are prepared to leave or sign the bottom of that statement form, ultimately they fail to receive the help they need.
This was an interesting program and I hope that it increases the public awareness of Clare’s Law. Some would say that if it saves one life then it is a success – I would say that we should be trying to find a way to save many more than that!
