Engendering Justice - from Policy to Practice - The Fawcett Society

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Chapter Four:Women Need Justice - Women as Victims of Crimeimportant steps in the development of policy and increasedacknowledgement of the existence of violence againstwomen as a significant issue, frontline staff continue todoubt the credibility of victims and society continues to‘judge’ the victim rather than the perpetrator. As one victimtold the Commission, “I felt that I had to defend my actionsrather than him having to defend his. I often felt like theperpetrator and not the victim.” 107Support for women who experience violence is also lacking.Currently, there is inconsistent provision of violence againstwomen services across England and Wales, particularlyin rural areas. The recent Map of Gaps 2 report producedby EVAW in partnership with the EHRC, revealed thatover a quarter of local authorities across Great Britainhave no specialised VAW support service. 108 Significantlyunderserved regions were identified as the East of Englandand the South East. This remains a major concern for theCommission.The Report also found that just one in 10 of all localauthorities in England, Scotland and Wales has aspecialised service for BME women, nearly one in threelocal authorities has no specialised domestic violenceservice, less than two-thirds of local authorities have awomen’s refuge; and only one in four local authority areashas a sexual violence service. Victims just cannot accessthe services they need. As one young survivor of rape toldthe Commission, “Having tried services in my area andfound them unavailable, my mother drives me a 72 mileroundtrip for counselling.” 109While the Government commitment to setting up SexualAssault Referral Centres (SARCs) in each police area, asdiscussed later in this Chapter, is commendable, there isalso a need for the difference between SARCS and RapeCrisis Centres (RCC’s) to be taken into account. While thegrowth in SARCS is necessary, RCCs are equally valuableand need to receive equal attention and funding. In 2008,69 percent of Rape Crisis Centres reported they lackedsustainable funding. 110 The growth of SARCS and therelatively even distribution across England and Wales hasshown what a clear Government commitment can achieve.This now needs to be extended to the provision of rapecrisis centres and other specialist provisions for victimsof violence. In April 2008, the Government announcedfunding of £1 million to fund rape crisis centres. Thisfunding, when it was finally delivered in November 2008,was welcome but it was a stop-gap measure sufficient onlyfor averting the closure of eight centres rather than allowinginvestment in any additional provision. The announcementof further funding in March 2009, of £1.6 million isencouraging. However, a long term funding solution is yet tobe identified.The Government has also announced funding for adomestic violence helpline (there is a DV helpline currentlyrun by Women’s Aid and Refuge) and this is welcomed.However, there is also a need for a national helplinefor sexual violence. The Government committed to theestablishment of this helpline in the Sexual Violence ActionPlan and this should be progressed as a matter ofurgency.Cross GovernmentStrategy on ViolenceAgainst WomenThe Commission has consistently recommended that aCross-Government strategy to end violence against womenis urgently needed. In 1999, the CEDAW Committee, calledon the United Kingdom to adopt and implement a unifiedand multi-faceted national strategy to eliminate violenceagainst women and girls, which would include legal,education, financial and social components. However, noaction was taken. In 2008, the CEDAW Committee againurged the United Kingdom to give priority attention to anational strategy on VAW.The Commission is encouraged by the work of the HomeOffice in leading on a long over-due Cross-GovernmentStrategy on VAW. The consultation on the development ofthe strategy was launched on 9 March 2009 and representsan important opportunity to ensure all governmentdepartments take responsibility for tackling VAW issues,with a focus on prevention and elimination of VAW.However, the strategy will only succeed if there is realcross-government commitment and an understandingPage 46
that VAW is a relevant issue for every department. The2007 independent review of the Government’s VAW workrevealed that many departments just do not recognise therelevance of VAW to their remit. There is a legal requirementunder the Gender Equality Duty to promote change -each department is required not just to have due regardto the need to eliminate unlawful sex discrimination andharassment but also to promote gender equality betweenwomen and men. This requires recognition of VAW as amanifestation of gender inequality and a consideration ofthe impact of policies on VAW.Important developments such as the Cross- GovernmentAction Plan on Sexual Violence and Abuse (April 2007); theNational Domestic Violence Delivery Plan; the ProstitutionStrategy (January 2006); Tackling Violent Crime Action Plan(February 2008); and the UK Action Plan on Trafficking (23March 2007) have all been welcomed by the Commissionover the past two years. However, the VAW Strategypresents the opportunity to integrate work rather thanthe current fractured approach. This will allow for theprioritisation of a comprehensive funding strategy for theprovision of services for women who have experiencedviolence and will also enable the intersection betweenviolence against women and other inequalities, such asethnicity, age, sexuality, social class and religion, to beidentified.The Commission was also encouraged to see thepublication of a strategy paper by the Conservatives inDecember 2008. 111 This demonstrates that VAW is beingrecognised as an important issue across the politicalspectrum.The Police – Reporting &InvestigationIt is clear that at the highest levels of the police force,there is recognition of the need for changes in practiceand in some areas of the country, police investigation hasmarkedly improved in recent years. However, there remainsa need for consistency in investigation across police areasand more importantly, a shift in attitudes and culture.The Decision to ReportIf victims do not have confidence that the criminal justicesystem will provide them with support, safety and justicethen they are unlikely to make the decision to report anoffence.Evidence shows that women may choose not to reportdomestic violence to the police either because they feelexcluded from the criminal justice system by virtue oftheir gender, ethnicity or class, or because they doubt theefficacy of this route for dealing with domestic violence. 112Vulnerable and intimidated women, particularly frommarginalised communities, may also feel a mistrustof authorities or pressure for violence, particularlywithin the domestic context, to be resolved within theircommunity. Additionally, women who are trafficked forsexual exploitation or domestic labour may be preventedfrom reporting their situation because of barriers suchas restrictions to their movement, intimidation, a lackunderstanding of the UK legal system and languagedifficulties.Crimes of rape and domestic violence have particularlylow reporting rates. On average, it is estimated that just10 percent of survivors who are supported by Rape CrisisCentres report their experience(s) to the police. 113 Womenin domestic violence situations often fear retaliation from theperpetrator for themselves or their children, have difficultiesleaving the abuser because of financial dependence or fearbeing judged or even blamed by the authorities or society.As one woman told the Commission:Domestic violence is not a one off event and yet the policereact on what they see at the time. I felt the police saw itas 50:50 when I was being terrorised on a daily basis…it is easy for a charming perpetrator to get two blokes ‘onside’,she’s always nagging and so many people includingpolice officers buy into this being a legitimate excuse forviolence. 114There should be continued evaluation of the impact ofthe Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act 2004 toensure measures do not have a detrimental effect onreporting rates. For example, the criminalisation of breachof non-molestation orders may lead to women being lesswilling to lodge a complaint against a violent partner. APage 47
Page 1 and 2: Engendering Justice- from Policy to
Page 3 and 4: ContentsForeword 5Executive Summary
Page 5 and 6: ForewordFor the past five years, Fa
Page 7 and 8: Executive SummarySince 2003, Fawcet
Page 10 and 11: Executive Summary continuedon domes
Page 12 and 13: Executive Summary continuedFemale O
Page 14 and 15: Chapter One: Continued.Methodology
Page 16 and 17: The Five Years of the CommissionCom
Page 18 and 19: Chapter Two:Introduction - From Pol
Page 20 and 21: Chapter Three:Women and Justice - M
Page 23 and 24: [A woman] had admitted to an offenc
Page 25 and 26: Figure 3: Female Reoffending Rate b
Page 27 and 28: writing the Government had undertak
Page 29 and 30: equirement could be used to refer w
Page 31 and 32: given current funding allocations a
Page 33 and 34: I feel that women with severe menta
Page 35 and 36: Good Practice Example: Birth Compan
Page 37 and 38: Female offenders serving indetermin
Page 39 and 40: The Commission recommends that if p
Page 41 and 42: Moving TowardsCommunity ProvisionTh
Page 43 and 44: which can be developed in conjuncti
Page 45: Chapter Four:Women Need Justice - W
Page 49 and 50: Women also need to have clear infor
Page 51 and 52: Victims reported telling their stor
Page 53 and 54: However, Rights of Women told the C
Page 55 and 56: in the decision-making process is l
Page 57 and 58: continued commitment to joint worki
Page 59 and 60: It is also important for the CPS to
Page 61 and 62: He pleaded innocent, so I prepared
Page 63 and 64: isk assessments are not uniform. In
Page 65 and 66: espect and sexual violence is a com
Page 67 and 68: different needs and experiences of
Page 69 and 70: managers. “Sometimes childcare is
Page 71 and 72: local area, with women who have rea
Page 73 and 74: her career, as these women may find
Page 75 and 76: The key issue in my view is that th
Page 77 and 78: Some magistrates noted that they fe
Page 79 and 80: for women to access development opp
Page 81 and 82: Organisations sharing their views w
Page 83 and 84: Institutional change needed:➤ A c
Page 85 and 86: International example of good pract
Page 87 and 88: ➤ The Criminal JusticeSystem will
Page 89 and 90: Key targets / indicators of success
Page 91 and 92: ➤ Women working inthe criminal ju
Page 93 and 94: Key targets / indicators of success
Page 95 and 96: ➤ Policy and practiceof all crimi
Page 97 and 98:
➤The Judiciary and thesenior leve
Page 99 and 100:
Appendix ACOMMISSIONERS:Baroness Je
Page 101 and 102:
Annexure BSummary of Recommendation
Page 103 and 104:
not be means tested.• First night
Page 105 and 106:
in circumstances where the Prosecut
Page 107 and 108:
• Allocation to a particular cour
Page 109 and 110:
EndnotesMarch 200985Questionnaire R
Page 111:
About FawcettThe Fawcett Society is
show all

Engendering Justice - from Policy to Practice - The Fawcett Society

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?