““Modern slavery is more likely to be considered … than the impact of domestic violence.””
““When women are engaged with a support organisation, they are more willing and likely to disclose.””
““They are not giving us a safe space.””
At least 57% of women in prison and under community supervision are victims of domestic abuse. The true figure is likely to be much higher because of barriers to women disclosing abuse. Research suggests that for many of these women, their offending or alleged offending resulted directly from their experience of abuse. In this new report, CWJ offers insights from women with lived experience and frontline practitioners in an examination of the approach taken by local agencies in the West Midlands in relation to victims of domestic abuse who are accused of offending, and draws out lessons for national policy and local practice throughout England and Wales.
Katy Swaine Williams, the report author and CWJ’s criminalisation project lead, said:
“The insights in this report from those with firsthand experience of the criminal justice process make clear that wide ranging reforms are needed to end the unjust criminalisation of victims of domestic abuse. The women taking part in the study felt punished rather than protected, and had been given no safe space to disclose their experience of abuse, receive support, and allow their experience of abuse to be taken into account in criminal proceedings against them.
“Days after the House of Commons Justice Committee reported on the government’s ‘slow progress’ in implementing its Female Offender Strategy, this new study reminds uswhere the solutions lie. A rigorous whole system approach is needed at national and local level, with relatively modest additional investment in women’s specialist services, to help prevent more victims being needlessly drawn into the criminal justice system, relieve pressure on the police, courts and prison and probation services, and give women access to the support they and their children need to thrive.”
The report makes seven overarching recommendations, calling on the Ministry of Justice and local agencies to:
Take a strategic approach by ensuring the whole system approach to women’s offending includes a strategic focus on protecting victims of domestic abuse from unjust criminalisation.
Provide a safe space for victims to disclose domestic abuse and receive support - including (a) national and local investment in third sector women’s specialist services; (b) co-located, women-only probation teams as standard everywhere; and (c) improved pathways for women into gender-informed healthcare services.
Foster improved diversion and stronger decision-making on arrest and prosecution by investing in continual awareness raising and improved guidance and training for frontline police officers and prosecutors, maximising the use of out of court disposals where appropriate, and removing the blanket exclusion of women accused of domestic abuse offences from diversion at the point of arrest.
Work to achieve fairer court proceedings by ensuring court staff, judges and magistrates have the information they need about domestic abuse and how it can contribute to women’s offending, and use of safeguards.
Maintain a focus on improving probation services to ensure a trauma-informed response to victims of domestic abuse who are convicted of offences, including (a) continual review of trauma-informed practice; (b) improvements to risk and needs assessments; and (c) addressing any gaps in domestic abuse support following the reunification of probation services.
Draw on lived experience by investing in consultation with women and girls with lived experience to inform continuous practice improvements, including Black, Asian, minoritised and migrant women and girls.
Undertake further study to inform practice development, including gathering and analysis of quantitative data to shed light on the experiences of victims of domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women and girls who are accused of offending – including Black, Asian, minoritised and migrant women and girls; considering the specific experiences of girls in this context; and investigating what support is available to the children of victims of domestic abuse who are accused of offending.