24 Hour Domestic Violence Help-line

Sylvia Walby report on the economic cost of domestic violence.

I n t e r-personal violence comprises crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. These are important forms of crime and the government is engaged in a major series of policy initiatives in order to deal with them. However, only a small fraction of these cases are re p o rted to the police and re c o rded by them, and even interview based surveys have d i fficulty in getting people to disclose such events. This re p o rt presents the findings of an innovative computerised self-completion questionnaire included in the British Crime Surv e y (BCS) which encourages wider re p o rting of experiences than the main face-to-face part of the BCS. It builds on previous use of this methodology in the BCS, and provides the most re l i a b l e findings to date on the extent and nature of inter-personal violence in England and Wa l e s .

'The fi rst snapshot of domestic abuse in Bristol took place on Thursday 10th March 2005. It was commissioned by Bristol Community Safety and Drugs Partnership (Safer Bristol) on behalf of Bristol Domestic Abuse Forum (BDAF), and funded by Government Offi ce South West. The research team consisted of Nicole Westmarland and Prof. Marianne Hester from the Violence against Women Research Group at the University of Bristol, who were assisted by Angeline Carrozza from Safer Bristol.'

This report constitutes the final evaluation of the Domestic Violence Pilot Sites at Caerphilly (in Gwent, Wales) and Croydon (in London, England). The Crown Prosecution Service published an Interim Report in September 20041, which assessed the progress made at these sites six months after implementation.

The evaluation of the effectiveness of specialist domestic violence courts needs to be addressed in the context of the dynamics of domestic violence, which is a complex problem, incorporating emotional and psychological abuse as well as crimes of a physical and/or sexual nature. Victims are often (understandably) reluctant to be witnesses in court because of their own relationship to the defendant and, in relationships where children are present, the defendant’s relationship with their children. They are almost always vulnerable and often intimidated.

Published in August 2005 this document investigates young people's awareness of and views about violence and abusive behaviour towards women. This study is published by NHS Health Scotland.

This research summary is based on research carried out by Michele Burman and Fred Cartmel from the University of Glasgow. It reports on research with young people living in Scotland (14 - 18) who were asked for their views about different kinds of violent, coercive and abusive acts...

An investigation into women’s help-seeking on behalf of their children and themselves; and the perceptions of health and social care professionals of the impact of domestic abuse on women and children’s mental and physical health and behaviours. By DASH

Findings from the 2004/05 British Crime Survey

Report on the issues facing older women experiencing domestic violence. Partner project between Hact and Help The Aged.