PCC John Campion is proud to be taking a stand for those affected by domestic abuse with a Call to Action for a national perpetrator strategy.
Next week, the Domestic Abuse Bill is due to be heard in the House of Lords for its committee stage hearing. A key part of this Bill is the Drive Project’s call to action for a specific focus on perpetrators. The Commissioner, who is one of 125 signatories, is hoping to turn the tide on domestic abuse by standing together with other organisations for victims.
The PCC is proud to support and work with Drive, which is now running two perpetrator programmes within West Mercia (Worcestershire and Herefordshire) after he secured funding from Government.
More than 1.9 million adults experienced domestic abuse last year, each one abused by a perpetrator, who are more often than not repeat offenders, and can have at least six different victims.
This strategy supports the PCC’s commitment to protect victims of domestic abuse, as well as potential victims, and preventing the trauma and abuse from ever happening in the first place.
PCC John Campion said: “Domestic abuse is still the major crime and cause of harm in our community. It is happening behind closed doors, with victims not being safe in their own homes. As we progress through the final stages of this important Bill, the Government has the opportunity to make this important change now before it’s too late and we find the already shocking statistics increase. I have made a commitment to protect victims and survivors of crime and, as a society, the best way to do this is to effectively target those causing the harm.
“Whilst there is already some great work taking place to tackle perpetrator behaviour, including the recent significant investment from the Government, there is more we can be doing to truly shine the light on this area of domestic abuse. By tackling the problem at the root, we can reduce the number of victims by challenging and changing the behaviour of those inflicting the pain.”
More information about the Call to Action can be found via this pdf
