ABSTRACT

Because of the lockdown conditions imposed in the United Kingdom to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus, police services responded to the risk of increased domestic abuse and intimate partner violence in a variety of ways. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a multi-agency pilot program put in place to increase the engagement in both the criminal investigation and safeguarding actions of the police and other agencies for victims of intimate partner violence. In this program, independent domestic violence advocates and independent sexual violence advocates work side by side in a police patrol capacity, conducting joint incident response to reports of domestic abuse in an effort to provide enhanced, immediate victim support. The early findings indicate significant overall increases in engagement with criminal prosecutions. The level of engagement of repeat victims in respect of safeguarding and criminal investigations also greatly increased. In addition, individual offences of controlling and coercive behaviour, harassment, threats to kill, affray and malicious communications showed significant rises in engagement. The findings indicate that improved victim support at an earlier stage improves the likelihood of agencies protecting, preventing and reducing cases affecting victims of intimate partner violence. Areas of further research include victim and practitioner perspectives and a more comprehensive data analysis to evaluate if these early findings remain at greater volumes and over time.

摘要

由于英国为控制 COVID-19 病毒的传播而实施的封锁条件，警方以各种方式应对家庭虐待和亲密伴侣暴力增加的风险。本研究评估了一项多机构试点计划的有效性，该计划旨在增加警察和其他机构对亲密伴侣暴力受害者的刑事调查和保护行动的参与。在该计划中，独立的家庭暴力倡导者和独立的性暴力倡导者在警察巡逻能力中并肩工作，对家庭虐待报告进行联合事件响应，以努力为受害者提供增强的即时支持。早期调查结果表明，参与刑事诉讼的人数总体上显着增加。重复受害者参与保护和刑事调查的程度也大大提高。此外，控制和胁迫行为、骚扰、威胁杀人、斗殴和恶意通信等个人犯罪的参与度显着上升。调查结果表明，在早期阶段改善受害者支持会提高机构保护、预防和减少影响亲密伴侣暴力受害者的案件的可能性。进一步研究的领域包括受害者和从业者的观点以及更全面的数据分析，以评估这些早期发现是否会随着时间的推移而保持更大的数量。骚扰、杀戮威胁、斗殴和恶意通信的参与度显着增加。调查结果表明，在早期阶段改善受害者支持会提高机构保护、预防和减少影响亲密伴侣暴力受害者的案件的可能性。进一步研究的领域包括受害者和从业者的观点以及更全面的数据分析，以评估这些早期发现是否会随着时间的推移而保持更大的数量。骚扰、杀戮威胁、斗殴和恶意通信的参与度显着增加。调查结果表明，在早期阶段改善受害者支持会提高机构保护、预防和减少影响亲密伴侣暴力受害者的案件的可能性。进一步研究的领域包括受害者和从业者的观点以及更全面的数据分析，以评估这些早期发现是否会随着时间的推移而保持更大的数量。