Domestic abuse commissioner criticises lack of warning of policy to free prisoners in England and Wales up to 70 days early
Survivors of domestic abuse have been put in danger by ministers’ failure to give notice of the early release from prison of their abusers, a Home Office adviser has said.
Nicole Jacobs, the independent domestic abuse commissioner, criticised the lack of warning of a new policy to free prisoners up to 70 days early from full jails.
There were missed opportunities to help two murdered County Durham toddlers in the lead-up to their deaths after their fathers raised concerns about domestic abuse, a new report has found.
Two-and-a-half-year-old Maya Chappell was shaken to death by her mother’s new partner, Michael Daymond, at her Shotton Colliery home in September 2022. Daymond is now serving a sentence for murder, and Maya’s mother Dana Carr was found guilty of child cruelty, neglect, and allowing the death of a child.
Two months after Maya’s tragic murder, Dwelaniyah Robinson, three, died in Ushaw Moor after being violently shaken by his mother Christina Robinson. She was convicted of murder, and a raft of child cruelty offences said to have taken place in the weeks leading up to Dwelaniyah’s death.
If you can’t afford to repay a debt, you can apply for an insolvency solution. But you need to provide personal details, such as an address, which are then listed in the public register for anyone to search.
However, domestic abuse survivors and vulnerable individuals can apply for anonymity – though this comes at a charge.
To have your details removed, you need to apply to the court for a ‘Person at Risk of Violence’ (PARV) order. Until 1 May, the fee was £280 before it was hiked to £308, though in some cases, the fee can be waived if applicants meet certain income-related criteria.
A WOMAN who faced homelessness while fleeing domestic abuse has been awarded a payout after an ombudsman ruled Basildon Council caused her “distress and uncertainty”.
The woman, named only as Mrs X, first contacted the council in March 2022 but had her case closed shortly after.
In May she completed a self-referral homelessness application and was later served a notice to leave her property by the landlord.
But the council closed her case after saying she did not send enough documentation.
Many victims of domestic abuse are often shocked at how much worse the abusive behaviors are after the ending of a relationship— often much worse than they were even during the relationship. “I never thought they would do something like this,” is a common lament I hear from victims of domestic abuse after they leave. They say they never realized their ex-partner was capable of such malice.
In fact, when a victim leaves the relationship is often one of the most dangerous times for them, because the abuser fears they are losing control and will often lash out. The chance of danger increases greatly during this time. But, unfortunately, a common defense mechanism for victims is to go into a state of denial. They think the person will back off, or that their actions will eventually calm down, if they ignore it.
Violence against women and girls transcends geographical boundaries, cultural divides, and economic statuses. A woman’s life is tragically lost to male violence every three days in the UK, with one in four women enduring some form of domestic abuse in their lifetime.
The UK Government ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (‘the Istanbul Convention’) in July 2022. As such, the UK and Welsh Governments are now bound by international law to protect women and girls from violence.
A Cambridge man was caught threatening to rip his wife’s head off in secret recordings of abuse inflicted on her. Craig Watson, of Coldhams Lane, Cambridge, made his victim’s life a misery for almost a decade by repeatedly beating and verbally abusing her.
The 42-year-old’s campaign of abuse came to light after officers were called to his home following a vicious attack on December 7 last year. After Watson was arrested, the victim told officers he had abused her since 2014.
She handed over a series of audio clips she had gathered as part of an escape plan. These included a recording from that evening’s incident where Watson could be heard threatening to “rip [her] head off”, and her screaming in pain while he beat her.
The mother of a woman who tragically ended her own life following ‘horrific’ domestic abuse is calling for a change in the law. Jessica Laverack, a talented hairdresser who travelled globally for her work, led a privileged life filled with horses and social activities, according to her mum, Phyllis Daly, 67.
“She just had the most affectionate and fun nature. She was so bright, bubbly, but her personality changed completely.”
Phyllis alleges that this change occurred when Jessica began dating bodybuilder Patrick Walsh in 2014, who was accused of violence, sexual abuse, and controlling behaviour towards her. Jessica sadly took her own life at the age of 34 on 2 February 2018, with the coroner concluding that the “underlying cause of her illness [was] domestic abuse.”
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has called an urgent national cabinet meeting over violence against women, saying the issue had become a “national crisis” and an “epidemic” as protests took place across the country over the weekend.
Mr Albanese called for all governments across Australia at both the local and federal levels to make changes and focus more on stopping perpetrators.
Thousands gathered in Sydney and other major Australian cities seeking tougher laws on gendered violence after a wave of high-profile incidents against women.
Students of criminology, trainee police officers and social services professionals are gaining a valuable insight into the insidious nature of coercive control thanks to an innovative immersive training session using virtual reality (VR) headsets at Bangor University.
During the session, participants are placed directly in the shoes of victims of coercive control. They don VR headsets and enter a number of scenarios that illustrate the more subtle signs of coercive control.
But more importantly, they feel what it’s like to experience situations where “love bombing,” “gaslighting” and “stonewalling” are part of daily life.