Tories “letting down victims of domestic abuse on every front”, says Labour

Labour’s Ellie Reeves has accused the government of “letting down victims of domestic abuse on every front” and called for urgent action following reports showing a drop in prosecutions for domestic violence.

The shadow solicitor general urged the government to do more as police data revealed a 19% decrease in the number of suspects of domestic abuse-flagged cases referred to the Crown Prosecution Service, despite a rise in the recorded crime.

The police recorded 758,941 domestic abuse-related crimes in England and Wales in the year ending March 2020, representing a 9% increase on the previous year, while referrals for prosecutions fell from 98,479 to 79,965.

Reeves said: “This Tory government is letting down victims of domestic abuse on every front. More needs to be done to ensure that victims have faith that the criminal justice system will be there to support them throughout.

“The Crown Prosecution Service needs to urgently identify the causes of why prosecution levels are so low, learn these lessons quickly and act swiftly to reverse this worrying trend.”

According to research put forward by the Femicide Census, one woman is murdered on average every three days in the UK and one in every three women aged 16 to 59 will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime.

Visits to the domestic abuse website have increased by 150% in the pandemic and the number of women killed in domestic abuse-related homicides tripled in the first six weeks of lockdown when compared with the same period last year.

Analysis by Counting Dead Women, a project which records the killing of women by men in the UK, identified 35 murders with another 12 strongly suspected cases between March 23rd and the lifting of the first lockdown at the beginning of July.

40,000 calls were made to the national domestic abuse helpline during the first three months of coronavirus restrictions earlier this year. Refuge, which runs the line, has said it is “very concerned” by the increase in demand.

Refuge director of communications Lisa King said: “The experiences faced by women during the first set of lockdown restrictions should serve as a wake-up call as we continue through the next stage of lockdown and Covid-19 response.

“What we know is that demand for our services rose significantly earlier this year – and early signs show that that could well be repeated.”

Labour welcomed plans to provide domestic abuse victims with stronger protections in the family justice system earlier this year as the government announced an “overhaul of how family courts deal with the horrific crime”.