Violence Against Women In The Uk Essay — страница 3

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Scotland (1991 Northern Ireland) for dealing with incidents of domestic violence. The guidance emphasised: ? The over riding duty to protect victims and children from serious attack ? The need to treat domestic violence as seriously as other forms of violence ? The use and value of power of arrest ? The dangers of seeking reconciliation between assailant and victim ? And the importance of record keeping to monitor the policy in practice With more effort being made on the side of the police with the set up of more Domestic Violence Units within stations, some headway is being made in protecting women and their children. The DVU officers are there to put women at ease, giving support and advice and helping them get in touch with relevant outside agencies. The DVU practices and

procedures are examined within forces by Her Majesty?s Inspectorate of Constabulary. Where there are instances of poor practice, reccommendations are made. In the Home Offices study in 1995 it particulary commended the work carried out by the Domestic Violence Units and its officers. They may not be able to protect women from the crime of violence but they are there to listen and advise after the event. (Grace 1995) The Crown Prosecution Service was responsible for a review on criminal proceedings in England and Wales in 1993. With this was published and easy to follow guideline on how to deal with domestic abuse cases. This was later updated in 1995. It emphasised the desirability of prosecuting cases of domestic violence and made particular mention of how the CPS should proceed

if a woman decides she wants to withdraw her support for prosecution. (which is in fact a major problem in charging men with domestic violence). Only this week new proposals have been made by Jack Straw to deal with the withdrawing of support from the victim. If these guidelines go through it would help in the fight against violence as, even if the victim decides not to pursue her attacker, the police can follow through the charge with or without her help. This, in short means that even if the man sweet talks his wife/girlfriend etc into dropping the charges the police can go ahead and charge him anyway. This will help the courts in the sentencing of violent men. The CPS is involved in Home Office-led pilots of ?One Stop Shops? for victims of violent crime where they can be kept

up to date with the progress of their case, and Victim Statements, which allow the victim to provide information on the impact which the offence has had on them. Domestic violence is included as a case category within these pilot schemes. Many CPS areas also have representatives who participate in local domestic violence forums; also, the CPS victims/witness care national training programme is currently being developed in consultation with Victim Support and will include the specific needs of victims of domestic violence. Domestic violence is also central to the Probation Service?s core functions of crime reduction, public protection and victim contact. It is also a critical factor in Family Court Welfare work and any other work requiring child protection procedures. The

probation service recognises the importance of this and undertakes work both directly with perpetrators and in support of those who have survived violence. In 1996 ACOP Position Statement about domestic violence recommended that individual services adopt a policy on domestic violence which: ? Affirms that domestic violence should be treated as seriously as any other violent behaviour; ? Promotes the development of a distinctive and effective community programme for perpetrators; ? Commits the service to working in a way which will promote the safety of survivors and children and highlights the importance of working in partnership with other agencies; and ? Recognises that the abuse of male power and control is a central feature to much domestic violence The Home Office, with HM

Inspectorate of Probation, is currently developing a training pack on domestic violence to inform the work of the probation service and assist officers in dealing with offenders who have a background in perpetrating domestic violence. Also, the Probation Service is currently working on developing an accredited national programme of perpetrator programmes. This will include a number of programmes for the perpetrators of domestic violence which will be piloted through the Home Office ?Pathfinder? initiative. There has also been a forward thinking change within Part IV of the Family law Act 1996 that deals with domestic violence. The Lord Chancellor implemented this change in October 1997. The Act now requires the police and court to attach the power of arrest to an occupation order