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Monday, December 2, 2024

£650,000 to tackle domestic violence in Nottinghamshire

Domestic abusers will be targeted as part of a new intervention to prevent reoffending.

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire will receive more than £650,000 from the Home Office for a new early awareness-raising project for first-time and low-level offenders.

It will also pay for a range of voluntary perpetrator initiatives for men and women who are concerned about controlling or violent behaviour within their relationships and want help to change.

Nottinghamshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Caroline Henry said: “Domestic abuse causes victims to feel terror in their own homes and communities, where they should feel their safest.

“Preventing and responding to domestic abuse and supporting survivors are among my core priorities as part of the Make Notts Safe Plan.

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“We are delighted to have secured extra funding to assist in our aims to reduce the number of domestic abuse crimes in Nottinghamshire.

“The numbers show just why we have made it a priority area to deal with. As well as supporting victims, we are also trying to prevent the perpetrators causing harm in the first instance by providing education on these matters.”

In Nottinghamshire, 16,236 domestic abuse offences were recorded in the year ending March 2023, averaging 44 per day. There were 34% repeat victims and a total of 65% of the offences were committed by current or former intimate partners and 88% of offenders were male.

One of the main projects the funding will pay for is Project CARA, which stands for Cautioning and Relationship Abuse.

It has been tested elsewhere in the country and evaluated by the University of Cambridge and Birmingham University, both of which found that it significantly reduced domestic abuse offending.

As well as Project CARA, the funding will support a range of voluntary perpetrator initiatives, which will be psychologically informed and aimed at behaviour change. A six-month perpetrator support scheme is already up and running and a dads’ programme will also be delivered before September, which aims to build parent and child relationships once the offending has stopped.

Commissioner Henry will be providing over £100,000 of match funding per year which will provide support for the partners of the perpetrators involved in the voluntary programmes. This is a key element of perpetrator programme delivery, as partner support helps ensure that survivors are safe.

The funding is positive news for Nottinghamshire and helps to deliver the ‘Make Notts Safe Plan’ strategic priority to prevent crime and the draft Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy which aims to prevent violence by addressing abusers’ attitudes and behaviours.

The funding for Nottinghamshire is part of a £39 million Government funding programme across the country, with 50 projects to be rolled out over the next two years, supporting initiatives to stop abusers from repeatedly targeting victims and terrorising vulnerable people.

Many domestic abusers are repeat offenders with 83% of male offenders repeating their offences within a six-month period. This makes intervening to stop their pattern of behaviour paramount to protect victims.

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