The government responded to a report by a joint committee of MPs and peers on human trafficking. It said that it was developing an action plan on tackling human trafficking which it intended to publish early in 2007.
Source: Human Trafficking: The government reply to the twenty-sixth report from the Joint Committee on Human Rights, Cm 6996, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Date: 2006-Dec
Researchers found that jurors in rape cases often took the view that it was 'reasonable' for a man to assume that silence represented sexual consent, even if the silence was due to the fact that the woman was totally intoxicated.
Source: Emily Finch and Vanessa Munro, From Sobriety to Stupefaction: Intoxication and jury decision-making in rape trials, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: Report | ESRC press release
Date: 2006-Dec
A report examined how services for victims of domestic violence in Northern Ireland could be improved. It stressed the importance of developing a multi-agency approach.
Source: Deloitte MCS Limited, Feasibility Study on One Stop Shop for Domestic Violence, Northern Ireland Office (028 9052 0700)
Links: Report | NIO press release
Date: 2006-Dec
The government announced plans under which every council in England would offer women with violent partners a 'safe room' in their home.
Source: Press release 19 December 2006, Department for Communities and Local Government (020 7944 3000)
Links: DCLG press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Dec
An official advisory body published (following consultation) final guidelines on sentencing in cases of domestic violence. Offences committed in a domestic context should be regarded as being no less serious than offences committed in a non-domestic context. A proposal that those found guilty of violence could get a community order or suspended sentence where they showed 'genuine signs of remorse' was dropped.
Source: Overarching Principles: Domestic Violence - Definitive Guideline, Sentencing Guidelines Council (020 7411 5551)
Links: Guidance | Consultation responses
Date: 2006-Dec
A paper said that the inclusion of initiatives to address domestic violence within local area agreements had been successful in improving responses - by enhancing partnership working, pooling resources and encouraging co-ordination.
Source: Work to Address Domestic Violence and Local Area Agreements: Where does it fit?, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Date: 2006-Nov
A report examined government efforts to join up work on violence against women. It highlighted a continuing lack of cross-department working, inadequate resources, and a lack of measurable targets.
Source: Making the Grade? The second annual independent analysis of government initiatives on violence against women, Amnesty International UK (020 7814 6241) for End Violence Against Women Campaign
Links: Report | Amnesty press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Nov
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers said that the trafficking of women and children had become 'one of the most serious human rights issues in the modern world', and called for tougher action from government.
Source: Human Trafficking, Twenty-sixth Report (Session 2005-06), HC 1127 and HL 245, Joint Committee on Human Rights (House of Lords and House of Commons) Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Amnesty press release | TUC press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Oct
A report highlighted best practice aimed at strengthening police enforcement work on domestic violence, and informing wider government work on the issue.
Source: Lessons Learned from the Domestic Violence Enforcement Campaigns 2006, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report | Home Office press release
Date: 2006-Oct
A Member of Parliament introduced a Bill which called for an offence of 'liability for suicide', particularly in connexion with those guilty of domestic abuse.
Source: Liability for Suicide Bill, Iain Duncan Smith MP, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard
Date: 2006-Oct
An article examined the role of feminist community activism and academic research in the context of contemporary crime reduction policy, drawing on evaluation studies of community responses to domestic violence against women.
Source: Lorraine Radford and Aisha Gill, 'Losing the plot? Researching community safety partnership work against domestic violence', Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 45 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Sep
A research study examined the ways in which women experiencing domestic abuse sought help on behalf of themselves and their children. It found that there were still many barriers to women seeking help.
Source: Paula Nicolson, Caroline O Keeffe, Louise Brenard, Jenny Powell and Maureen Storey, Domestic Abuse: Women Seeking Help, School of Health and Related Research/University of Sheffield (0114 222 5454) and Sheffield Domestic Abuse Forum
Links: Summary | Guardian report | Times report
Date: 2006-Aug
A new book examined a range of issues relating to the sex industry - including the demand by customers who buy sex, the policing of women working in the street sex industry, and the violence pervading prostitution. It showed how these issues had been addressed in policy terms, the problems that had emerged, and how a social policy might be formulated to minimize harm and enhance public understanding.
Source: Belinda Brooks-Gordon, The Price of Sex: Prostitution, policy and society, Willan Publishing (01884 840337)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Aug
An article reported research with 20 women that aimed to hear their views on the role of alcohol in men s violence to them. Women did not blame alcohol for their partner s violence: instead they held the men, not their alcohol consumption, responsible for their actions.
Source: Sarah Galvani, 'Alcohol and domestic violence: women's views', Violence Against Women, Volume 12 Number 7
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Jul
A report by a committee of MPs said that proposed new sentencing guidelines for sex offenders (which said rapists should be punished less severely if their victim had been sexually familiar with them immediately before the attack) could result in unduly lenient sentences. It said that any reduction of sentence should be small, and might not apply in all such circumstances. It also said that the guidelines should be altered to make clear that "provocation", or being under the influence of drugs or drink, should not be a mitigating factor in rape cases.
Source: Draft Sentencing Guidelines: Sexual Offences Act 2003, Sixth Report (Session 2005-06), HC 1582, House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2006-Jul
An article examined the treatment of domestic violence victims in the mode of trial hearing. Compared with similar offences, cases of domestic violence were more likely to be disposed of in the magistrates court rather than the Crown Court.
Source: Steven Cammiss, 'The management of domestic violence cases in the mode of trial hearing: prosecutorial control and marginalizing victims', British Journal of Criminology, Volume 46 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Jul
A progress report was published on the implementation of the national plan for tackling domestic violence.
Source: National Domestic Violence Delivery Plan: Progress Report 2005/06, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Report | Hansard | Home Office press release
Date: 2006-Jun
A report set out a programme of work to equip services and professionals to identify and respond to the health and mental health needs of individuals affected by domestic violence, childhood sexual abuse, rape, oblique sexual assault, and sexual exploitation - both victims and abusers, male and female.
Source: Catherine Itzen, Tackling the Health and Mental Health Effects of Domestic and Sexual Violence and Abuse, Department of Health (08701 555455) and National Institute for Mental Health in England
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jun
A report by a committee of MPs criticized draft sentencing guidelines which said that domestic violence offenders should be sent on anger management programmes, instead of to prison, if they showed remorse.
Source: Draft Sentencing Guidelines: Overarching Principles - Domestic Violence and Breach of a Protective Order, Third Report (Session 2005-06), HC 1231, House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Womens Aid press release | BBC report | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jun
A study found that rules introduced in 2000 to ban defence barristers from depicting rape victims as promiscuous had been "evaded, circumvented and resisted", with the result that the reform had failed to have any impact.
Source: Liz Kelly, Jennifer Temkin and Sue Griffiths, Section 41: An evaluation of new legislation limiting sexual history evidence in rape trials, Online Report 20/06, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report | Bar Council press release | Guardian report | Times report
Date: 2006-Jun
An article examined the relationship between researchers and activist services (such as Women's Aid) in the field of domestic violence.
Source: Nicola Harwin, 'Putting a stop to domestic violence in the United Kingdom: challenges and opportunities', Violence Against Women, Volume 12 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-May
An article examined variations in service offered to people who complained of sexual assault in 2005. Very wide disparities in service were found, most markedly between sexual assault referral centres (SARCs) and non-SARC services. In the non-SARC services, lack of co-operative working with local health services, lack of equipment, and lack of ?in-house? medical follow-up arrangements were the norm.
Source: Mary Pillai and Sheila Paul, 'Facilities for complainants of sexual assault throughout the United Kingdom', Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine, Volume 13 Issue 4
Links: Abstract | Guardian report
Date: 2006-May
A report presented the key findings from the 2004-05 British Crime Survey on partner abuse (non-sexual), family abuse (non-sexual), sexual assault, and stalking. It examined the extent of intimate violence, multiple victimization, the victim-offender relationship, and the demographic, socio-economic, and lifestyle factors associated with risk of victimization.
Source: Andrea Finney, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking: Findings from the 2004/05 British Crime Survey, Online Report 12/06, Home Office (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-May
An article examined user participation in domestic violence services, and the extent to which the voices of domestic violence survivors were heard in policy and service development.
Source: Gill Hague and Audrey Mullender, 'Who listens? The voices of domestic violence survivors in service provision in the United Kingdom', Violence Against Women, Volume 12 Number 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-May
An article examined how human rights could be used to compel an approach to cases of domestic violence which required state action to protect those harmed by abuse.
Source: Shazia Choudhry, 'Righting domestic violence', International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, Volume 20 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Apr
An article highlighted the gap between policy and practice in the effective risk management of sex offenders. It said that a restorative community justice approach should be used in order to manage better the risk presented by sex offenders in the community.
Source: Anne-Marie Mcalinden, 'Managing risk: from regulation to the reintegration of sexual offenders', Criminology and Criminal Justice, Volume 6 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Apr
An official advisory body published draft guidelines on sentencing in cases of domestic violence. Offences committed in a domestic context should be regarded as being no less serious than offences committed in a non-domestic context. But those found guilty of violence could get a community order or suspended sentence where they showed "genuine signs of remorse", or where both partners wanted to stay together.
Source: Overarching Principles: Domestic Violence - Consultation guideline, Sentencing Advisory Panel (020 7035 5158)
Links: Guidelines | SAP press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Apr
An article analyzed the implications of masculinity for policies and practices aimed at reducing violence by men against known women. Masculinity was generated through relations between men, and domestic violence might be a means of regulating those relations: addressing relations between men was therefore likely to be critical to the effectiveness of relevant programmes.
Source: Jeff Hearn and Antony Whitehead, 'Collateral damage: men s domestic violence to women seen through men s relations with men', Probation Journal, Volume 53 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Mar
The government began consultation on proposals to tackle the problem of low rape conviction rates in England and Wales. They included allowing video interviews made with rape victims at the time of their initial complaint to be shown to juries.
Source: Convicting Rapists and Protecting Victims Justice for victims of rape, Office for Criminal Justice Reform (cjsonline@cjit.gsi.gov.uk)
Links: Consultation document | OCJR press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Mar
A report (by a senior judge) assessed whether the courts and judiciary had been in any way to blame in a number of cases where children had been killed by their fathers at the end of their parents' relationships. It recommended further examination of the approach which the courts should adopt to proposed consent orders in contact cases where domestic violence was in issue. It said that no judge should sit for the first time in private law proceedings without having undergone training which included multi-disciplinary instruction on domestic violence.
Source: Nicholas Wall (Lord Justice of Appeal), A Report to the President of the Family Division on the Publication by the Women s Aid Federation of England Entitled 'Twenty-Nine Child Homicides: Lessons still to be learnt on domestic violence and child protection' with Particular Reference to the Five Cases in which there was Judicial Involvement, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Mar
A report condemned the fact that the proportion of rapes reported to police that ended in a conviction varied between 1 per cent and 14 per cent, depending on geographical area. It called for a new integrated approach to address all forms of violence against women, and protect all women wherever they lived.
Source: Justice and Equality: Second annual review of the Commission on Women and the Criminal Justice System, Fawcett Society (020 7253 2598)
Links: Report | Fawcett Society press release | Home Office press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Mar
A new book examined how to work safely and sensitively with children living with domestic violence.
Source: Cathy Humphreys and Nicky Stanley (eds.), Domestic Violence and Child Protection: Directions for good practice, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (020 7833 2307)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Feb
An article reported the findings of a qualitative study of the politicization of domestic violence as it related to the experiences of disabled survivors. There were widespread discrepancies in the definition of domestic violence experienced by disabled people.
Source: Jennifer Nixon, 'Defining the issue: the intersection of domestic abuse and disability', Social Policy and Society, Volume 8 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Jan
A series of articles examined national (and international) responses to gendered violence against women.
Source: Social Policy and Society, Volume 5 Issue 1
Links: Table of contents
Date: 2006-Jan
A report examined how existing law and policy relating to violence against women in England and Wales measured up to United Kingdom commitments under international law. Recent policy developments had 'significantly improved' the framework within which violence against women was addressed.
Source: Measuring Up? UK compliance with international commitments on violence against women in England and Wales, Rights of Women
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jan
A report evaluated the effectiveness of interventions relevant to healthcare for reducing violence against, or improving the physical and psycho-social well-being of, women who had experienced or were experiencing partner violence.
Source: Jean Ramsay, Carol Rivas and Gene Feder, Interventions to Reduce Violence and Promote the Physical and Psychosocial Well-being of Women who Experience Partner Violence: A systematic review of controlled evaluations, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jan