Domestic Abuse (DA) Roundtable Event DCI Jim Foley Metropolitan Police

Agenda 1. The difficulties of investigating Domestic Abuse. 2. The difficulties of investigating Domestic Abuse Rape offences. 3. Stalking and harassment

Context & Challenges

What is Domestic Abuse? … 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 or emotional.

Coercive and controlling behaviour Controlling behaviour is certain 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 for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour. Coercive behaviour is acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm punish or frighten their victim. These could include: isolating victim from friends/family  depriving them of basic needs monitoring their time monitoring a person via online communication tools or spyware controlling aspects of everyday life: where they go, who they see, what they wear, when they sleep depriving access to support services, specialist support or medical services control of finances - punitive allowances threats to harm or kill threats to harm another e.g. a child threats to reveal, share or publish private information assaults, rape criminal damage – destruction of household goods preventing access to transport or from pursuing a working life.

National Statistics Will affect 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men in their lifetime Equivalent to an estimated 1.4 million female and 700,000 male victims Leads to, on average, two women being murdered each week and 30 men per year Accounts for 16% of all violent crime however it is still the violent crime least likely to be reported to the police Has more repeat victims than any other crime Is the single most quoted reason for becoming homeless (Shelter, 2002) Approximately 400 people commit suicide each year who have attended hospital for domestic abuse injuries in the previous six months 200 of these attend hospital on the day they go on to commit suicide Estimated that domestic abuse costs the public £23 billion per annum Each domestic abuse murder costs over £1 million On average the police receive an emergency call relating to domestic abuse every 30 seconds

Domestic Abuse Victim Behaviours The most commonly asked question: Why don’t they just leave? What does a victim hope to gain from leaving? Safety for themselves and any children Self respect Self confidence A chance for a new start Control over their life Improved health

What does a victim face losing if they leave? Home Possessions Job (either because they have moved or because it is an easy way to be found) Father/mother for the children Status (as a wife/husband, particularly important in religious communities where divorce still carries a stigma) Any hope that things will work out A partner that at one time at least, they loved and for whom they may still have feelings of care Finances Friends and family Pets Their routine (this includes all the things that make up your day-to-day life - your exercise class, the children's school, the garden you have lovingly tended, your GP, dentist, the local shops where you are known etc) Children (this is statistically unlikely but they will invariably have been threatened with this by the abuser and so it will form part of their decision-making process) The decision to leave an abusive relationship is not easy Victims are likely to blame themselves having endured significant emotional abuse which involves manipulation and distortion of the events. What this means is that when an abused person leaves, they frequently face nothing but loss for quite some time. The single biggest gain ‘safety' may not be gained for weeks, months and in some cases years. It is also important to remember that victims are likely to be making the decision to leave within the context of her abuser begging for forgiveness, pleading for another chance and promising to change.

Offender Behaviour Perpetrators often seek to down play the impact of their abuse and fail to admit or acknowledge the extent of the harm that they cause. This can take many forms: Complete denial; Inclusion (perpetrators include only abuse that has become public) Forgetting, blanking out and ‘not knowing’; Normalising (presenting behaviour as if it was not important) Using the children as part of coercive control Denying the impact on children (evidence suggests that in 90 percent of domestic assaults, children are in the same or next room) Denying that they have responsibility, instead blaming the victim or other problems, such as substance misuse, stress, or mental illness In a HMIC review of 600 domestic assault case files, there was a counter-allegation made in 30% of the cases. Often the women the HMIC spoke to described how calm and plausible the perpetrator appeared to be on arrival of the police

‘Positive’ Action and DA Rape Arrest and Deterrence Theory Professor ‘Larry Sherman’ The ‘Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment’ (MDVE) by Sherman and Berk (1984) Replication studies. Decrease in Violence vs Increase in harm Dame Elish Rt Hon Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC (30th April 2015) - Recommendation 5; The impact of the question concerning previous experience of sexual abuse in Form 124D (completed when complainants report domestic violence) be researched and reviewed to assess whether it is the most appropriate mechanism for encouraging disclosure of rape offences (MPS). The question referred to within the report is part of the national ‘DASH’ (Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment) risk assessment tool completed for allegations of domestic abuse and the question specifically asks; ‘Do they say or do things of a sexual nature that make you feel bad or that physically hurts you or someone else? A positive response to this question will lead to a crime report of rape or sexual assault, whether the victim wishes to report the matter for investigation or not……..Why?    ‘Positive’ action vs Victim care Survivors group The group felt that the way the question was asked and by who was very important to the response they would give. All women in the group agreed that the biggest issue for police was that they needed more training in understanding the issues faced by victims. They also wanted police to understand that; If I say that I don’t want to give a statement right now and I don’t want him to be arrested for rape then that does not mean I never will I still wanted him to be arrested for ……. (the original offence the police were called for)