On Thursday 12 March at 10.35am, the Domestic
Abuse Act 2021 Committee will hold its second evidence session in
its inquiry examining the effective operation of the Act. The
Committee will hear from two panels of witnesses, comprising
representatives of the police and organisations who work with the
police on domestic abuse, and consider evidence on the policing
of domestic abuse cases.
The session will be available to watch live or on demand
at Parliament
TV or attend in person in Committee Room 3, Palace
of Westminster.
The Committee will launch its call for evidence,
including details of how to make submissions on its
website
in due course, likely to be in the next week.
Giving evidence will be:
10.35am
-
Helen Millichap, Deputy Assistant
Commissioner, National Policing Lead for Violence Against Women
and Girls, National Police Chiefs' Council and;
-
Louisa Rolfe, Assistant Commissioner, Domestic
Abuse Lead, National Police Chiefs' Council.
11.40am
-
Harriet Wistrich, Chief Executive Officer,
Centre for Women's Justice;
-
Beverley Jones, The Next Chapter and;
-
Ruth Cherry-Galal, The Next Chapter.
Questions will include:
- What challenges have the police faced when arresting,
charging and investigating the new abuse offences in the Act –
‘coercive and controlling behaviour', ‘psychological and
emotional abuse', ‘financial abuse', ‘non-fatal strangulation'.
What, if anything, would help them address these challenges?
- What issues have victims/survivors faced when the police are
arresting, charging, and investigating these offences?
- What issues have the police faced in interpreting and
applying the provisions that define how people are ‘personally
connected'? What, if anything, would help the police in this
area?
- How has the Act affected police intervention, arrest,
charging and prosecution of perpetrators?
- Are there specific issues faced by minoritised
victims/survivors which the police find more or less difficult to
respond to? What effect, if any, has the Act had on how the
police respond to minoritised victims/survivors of domestic
abuse?
