NEW BRITISH PROJECT CUTS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

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INDEPENDENT, UK - A pioneering scheme to tackle domestic violence, which
affects 1.5 million women each year in the UK, has cut the incidence of
assault and injury to women by two thirds, according to the first
independent evaluation of its impact. The L1m scheme, half funded by the
Home Office, uses special case workers to co-ordinate services aimed at
keeping the victim safe in her own home and has been so successful that
it is being rolled out across the country. . .

The new approach involves identifying women at highest risk, using a
20-point checklist of risk factors, and appointing independent domestic
violence advocates to support them. The advocates co-ordinate monthly
meetings of local services to protect the victims and help them to
rebuild their lives.

Results from the first eight pilot areas to be evaluated showed that
after six months, in at least 90 out of 140 cases (65 per cent), the
violence had stopped. The monthly Multi Agency Risk Assessment
Conferences have dealt with 8,000 cases this year, which is set to
double to 15,000 next year. Research shows that 70 per cent of women who
have been through the Marac process were still safe six months later. .
.

The scheme is run by a charity, Co-ordinated Action on Domestic Abuse,
set up by Diana Barran, a former hedge fund manager, in 2004. . . She
said: "The research shows that the model works. When we talk about
violence in this context we are talking about a knife being held to a
victim's throat. There is nothing pink and fluffy about this. For too
long victims of domestic abuse have been chucked from pillar to post
because it is a problem that crosses so many boundaries – police,
health, housing, social services. Women's refuges have kept victims
safe, but lives have also been lost because women didn't want to go into
them, or they were full or too far away. . .

A national training program will have 360 advocates in place around the
UK by the spring, enough to deal with 30,000 high-risk cases annually.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article3218030.ece

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