Her Story, Her Justice
A new (27 February 2024) publication from Advance ‘Her Story, Her Justice’ examines how the criminal justice system fails to respond to survivors of domestic abuse and details how the system could work better to secure more arrests, prosecutions, and convictions of perpetrators. This new report explores the vital role played by Criminal Justice Independent Domestic Abuse Advocates (CJ IDVAs) who specialise in supporting victim/survivors through the criminal justice process, as well as the need for Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts (SDACs).
Context
It is estimated that 2.1 million people experienced domestic abuse in England and Wales in the year ending March 2023. Despite legislative and policy progress made in recent years, the data tells a different story – prosecutions in 2023 represented just 5% of reported domestic abuse-related crimes (51,288 prosecutions; 889,918 reported
crimes). Five years ago, the proportion of prosecutions was nearly 15% of all crimes (89,091 prosecutions; 599,549 reported crimes).
Reports of domestic abuse-related crimes have increased markedly but the system has not responded to address this. On the contrary, the response has deteriorated drastically with reports of domestic abuse crimes increasing by 48% and prosecutions reducing by 42% in 5 years.
Evidence shows this is due to a lack of strategic prioritisation, insufficient allocation of resources, and pressures driven by capacity including loss of specialisms in justice agencies, all exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and economic crisis.
The whole justice approach
Working as part of the Coordinated Community Response, Advance’s Whole Justice Approach aims to improve prosecutions and convictions of abuse by working jointly with the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, the courts, and the prison services, supporting both professionals and victim/survivors as domestic abuse cases progress through the system.
This approach includes access to SDACs and support from CJ IDVAs throughout the whole criminal justice process: from reporting to investigation, trial, and posttrial, and offers evidence-based solutions to at least some of the problems with the criminal justice process.
Analysis of Advance data shows that when the system works, outcomes for victim/survivors are markedly improved – we have seen a 51% increase in the proportion of arrests leading to charges and a 16% decrease in the proportion of unsuccessful cases based on “victim and witness evidential issues”. There has also been a 34% increase in convictions of domestic abuse cases in the boroughs where Advance facilitates the Whole Justice Approach.
Yet despite the positive impact of this approach and decades of evidence from frontline services, there continues to be a failure to make effective services available to women everywhere.
Recommendations
Advance calls on the Government and criminal justice agencies including the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the courts, to invest in the Whole Justice Approach, both financially and strategically in order to:
- improve access for victim/ survivors to life-saving community-based support
services and protection - increase confidence in the system
- increase the rate of convictions.
It sets out a number of specific recommendations organised under three headings:
- Victims/Survivors’ rights and support
- Building trust in the criminal justice system
- Transparent and accountable criminal justice processes and practices
2 responses
I’m a survivor of domestic abuse and in 2020 intimate partner violence escalated to gun violence; my abuser was able to manipulate law-enforcement agencies and ultimately allowing the blame to fall on me. Two months before he pulled the guns we were in an active child protective investigation, and in the Safe At Home program (I have docs) where they proved that he had been sexually abusing me and exposing our young sons to pornography. Two months later when he tried to take my life, my young son’s were present, and my friend was on the phone, my spouse didn’t just choose one gun, he actually admire two weapons before ultimately choosing a larger caliber weapon and dropping it to his side and just stared me dead in my eyes after a verbal argument about the ongoing domestic abuse, and that police should be involved. When the police arrived, they had Baker acted him- They found him at a hospital because he left the home. The sheriff proceeded to threaten to have my children taken away from me if I didn’t have somebody to come take the guns into custody because he did not want to take them into custody and a neighboring pastor took the guns into custody. My spouse just pulled two loaded firearms on me and the sheriff threatened to have me arrested for my spouses crimes, and then I was investigated by child protective services and not allowed to be alone with my children for 14 days. When I finally was able to overcome Stockholm syndrome, I tried to get an injunction, but the lawyers from the local Domestic Violence Resource Center would not allow any of the evidence that I had stating that notarized documents aren’t legal documents, I even have the notice from the state attorneys office telling me that my spouse was deemed dangerous to me, and cannot be used in court hearings, and that the injunction would not impact the children because domestic violence does not impact children in the state of Florida-I dropped the injunction out of fear. The lawyer that was supposed to handle my divorce case from Bay Area legal services which is the nonprofit for people like me, would not even file my Divorce. They waited for the plaintiff to file divorce proceedings, and then we responded. They would only help me fill out the documents they would not represent me. The lawyer from Bay Area legal again told me that the documents would not be admissible in court. And that Domestic Violence does not impact divorce in the state of Florida, and therefore I was not allowed to mark the responding box on the Divorce packet that let the judge know there’s domestic abuse within the home. When he wouldn’t take my case thoroughly, I hired a Lawyer and I paid him his retainer fee, but I don’t know if I got a wing from the same bird because when he took over the case, and we went through our first mediation agreement, maintain status quo, my spouse violated it repeatedly, and when my spouse left me a car that almost killed me and my children my lawyer still did not tell the judge about anything that was going on- my spouse is actively trying to take my life; I have Crohn’s disease and with the stress that he intentionally and repeatedly causes it keeps it from going into remission, and could ultimately cause fatality, & my spouse knows that, And he uses it to his advantage. It’s gotten so bad here where I live with help that was not given that I’ve had to file complaints with the department of justice for civil rights violation, I filed a complaint with the FBI against the Pasco County sheriffs department for color of law violation Because as a result of their police work, I was unable to get the services that the government gives to survivors like me- Everybody knows my spouse is dangerous to me, but nobody is doing anything To protect my children or myself, and how they get away with doing that is the police say it’s a civil matter and then when it bounces back to the justice system, nothing is done and nothing is filed. I emailed my county commissioner last year telling him that my intention was to go speak at a live county commissioner meeting with the evidence and let the public know what’s what’s been going on in our county with domestic abuse, and how funds are being used- I sent him all the documents that I have proving the abuse and he sent me an investigator who apologized to me about risk protection orders, but ultimately told me the police report could not be changed, Even though they know he was not a victim. My spouse who tried to take my life and is actively going the distance to achieve that is able to use government funds, and the victim of the abuse is not. I also talked with another investigator from the child protective division That told me the reason why I wasn’t able to use the fund from sunrise to move, to get cameras or use the real financial help that I need was because of that police report, And I haven’t heard anything from them since. In November of last year, I filed a complaint with the inspector General’s office against child protective services for a failure to protect And harassment Because as a result of what my husband did to me, I was able to be harassed By those who are supposed to protect my children and I, And that was accepted this past December, but I haven’t heard anything. I have filed complaints with the bar against both lawyers this past Sunday.
The reason why domestic abuse is so prevalent why we have children shooting up schools is because we’re forced to coparent with people that the courts know are dangerous, but they really don’t want to be involved so they passed the buck and they make it the victims problem expecting the victim to maintain complete control while allowing abuse to further take place because we know that when people separate if there’s no real help that comes into the home, those atrocities are going to be committed just in a different environment, and that’s why we have so many children who are harming each each other and hurting each other and shooting up things is because they are placed an environment that are deemed healthy for them when they are not supposed to be and abuse sanctioned against the whole family by the justice system that’s sworn an oath to protect him to serve. What’s going on? Here is not right and I know there are more instances of this happening within our county, and the reality is unless somebody comes in and start starts reporting on it the victims here are going to continue to be penalized and hurt by those in the justice system who are supposed to serve in and protect them-this is a huge problem and we need to gain control of it because domestic abuse has risen since Covid and quarantine and it’s not gonna get any better when we force families into positions where they are in danger and were a legal system, force his families to normalize abusive behavior.
My hope in reaching out to you, is that I can get some sort of help or coverage here so that people know what’s going on. I have all supporting evidence, documents, child, protective documents, notarized documents, letters that my spouse wrote to me over and over again through the years, detailing the abuse and that he was sorry because he’s a sex addict, and I’m the one that gets the brute force of his addiction. I also have the letter from the state telling me my spouse was being dangerous to me and that they were taking his weapons and I also have a letter of them telling me nine months later they were going to give them back without any mental therapy or oversight. My daughter from a previous marriage told me a few years ago that she thought my husband had been coming into her room and raping her and she told me that the whole time she was in high school, The reason why she covered up when she came home was because she was afraid of him, and the reason why I got the injunction was because of her because I saw him start to gaslight her the same way he did to me, and then he paid her off by giving her a brand new car, and I haven’t seen her since; she’s 23 now and she was 20 when that happened. When our children are put in these environments, they’re able to be manipulated, and used against the healthy parent causing parental alienation. Because of the normalization of the abuse that occurred within the home I had to talk my son down from agreeing with school shooters when they’re being bullied by somebody else because he thought it was OK to pull a gun on somebody who is unarmed if they feel threatened in anyway, including just being told what you’re doing is wrong, and verbal altercations that they did not agree with. At one point I had my daughter tell me when she was about 20, after I made her clean her bathroom and her cats litter box, that my spouses actions towards me were valid, she told me that that was his is only option; I was floored and had to explain to her that you are not to pull a weapon on anybody who is unarmed and not attacking you. The things that these children learn in these environments is dangerous and it’s dangerous society and their peers around them. All of the numbers are up right now and child on child violence is at an all-time high and you gotta stop and think that it starts in the home and we really need to be taking action to avoid mass casualties in the future because we actively have children going into these environments where abuse is sanctioned against somebody who is a victim and that is where they’re learning how to perpetrate the behavior.
I was beaten, kicked and wet of unrine of his kick. When police arrived he self harmed and I was arrested. I been taken to hospital with handcuffed. Blood in urine found . But still I charged with abh and bailed. It’s 6 months I have not seen my kids and not allowed to contact with them. He had police caution for assaulting me and 6 times he called police for false allegations. He went to go and also made false allegations. Social worker report said I didnot harm my kids , not physically at all. But he claimed I physically assaulted my kids and that’s why I am not allowed to see my kids. Where is justice?