Leicestershire's Police and Crime Commissioner says the under-reporting of domestic violence is an 'absolute priority' for his term of office.
Lord Willy Bach (second right) with academics at DMU
Lord Willy Bach was speaking at the launch of De Montfort University Leicester (DMU)'s Conference on Coercion and Control, which explored a range of issues facing victims today.
The event, run by DMU's Sexual Violence and Domestic Violence Research Network (SVDV), saw academics, professionals, and people who work in criminal justice and safeguarding come together to share knowledge and hear about the latest research in tackling sexual violence and domestic abuse.
Lord Bach said: "I think it's absolutely wonderful that this conference is taking place. For me, tackling sexual violence and domestic violence is an absolute priority.
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"My office of PCC is very much working in partnership with agencies set up to work in this very important area. There is still a very long way to go in terms of referrals and people are afraid of coming forward.
"Things have changed dramatically over 25 years but there's too much under reporting. Events such as this are crucial for sharing knowledge."
The SVDV Network was founded in 2013 by Vanessa Bettinson, Reader in Criminal Law at DMU and Sarah Hilder, former programme leader in Community and Criminal Justice at DMU who is now at Nottingham Trent University.
Keynote speakers were Ruth Aitkin from Refuge, which helps women and children escaping domestic violence; Vanessa Bettinson on the new offence of controlling behaviour; and Professor Anne-Marie McAlinden, director of research at Queen's University, Belfast.
More than 200 people took part and there were contributions from academics and students in the Faculties of Health and Life Sciences. There was also a performance highlighting the complexities and bewilderment of coercive control for victims and professionals.
And third year Community and Criminal Justice students Sophie Hoey, Aleksandra Smagiel and Kayleigh Perett presented findings on research to assess public awareness of SVDV issues and ran an interactive workshop.
Lord Bach announced new plans to invest £33, 000 in a new project designed to break the cycle of domestic abuse. The CARA programme, which has won two national awards for innovation in policing, aims to prevent re-offending by working with those at risk of offending and providing victims with extra support. The PCC is working with The Hampton Trust and Leicestershire County Council on the project.
Lord Bach said: "Domestic abuse is an issue that transcends class, race, religion and age. It's clear to me that new approaches are vital to breaking a 'revolving door' situation in which perpetrators of abuse continue to reoffend, particularly if there has been insufficient evidence to pursue a conviction."
* If you are interested in working with DMU's Sexual Violence and Domestic Violence Research Network contact Vanessa Bettinson (co-founder) on vbettinson@dmu.ac.uk and you can visit the website www.svdv.org.uk
Posted on Thursday 29 December 2016