Earlier in June, Respect CEO, Jo Todd was invited to the House of Lords to give evidence to the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 Committee, alongside Professor Nicole Westmarland and Kyla Kirkpatrick, Director of The Drive Partnership.
They spoke to the panel members about perpetrators of domestic abuse, how to intervene and how to prevent harm beginning or escalating.
The committee had limited time to hear evidence and a broad range of issues were discussed. Key points that were highlighted included:
- Since the Act came in, we’ve been moving in the right direction, but the pace is far too slow and the scale, ambition and political will is still too small. On the ground, very little has changed.
- Perpetrators are everywhere. In every setting you can think of. It’s a large and diverse group and there is no one intervention that will address that. It requires society-wide action.
- Every statutory agency must be able to respond to perpetrators. They should be compelled to have systems and processes that identify perpetrators and plans for what to do once that happens.
- Behaviour change programmes are a vital part of how we intervene, and they are made up of so much more than just behaviour change. It is really skilful work that there is not enough of.
- We have to stop thinking about all work we do with young people as prevention. Prevention is needed, but for many teenagers, we’re too late for that. They need intervention.
- Commissioning practice has to improve, in quality and consistency. Commissioners must follow standards for safe, effective practice that keeps survivors at its heart. The risks are too great not to.
It was also great to hear Meena Kumari of H.O.P.E. Training & Consultancy and Catherine Briody of Islington Council speak beforehand. There were good discussions and we are hopeful that the report the committee produces will reflect these points.
