On Thursday 16 April at 10.35am
the Lords Domestic Abuse Act 2021 Committee will hear from
witnesses representing frontline health workers, social workers
and the police on actions taken to respond effectively when
tackling domestic abuse and supporting victims and survivors.
The session will be available to watch live or on demand
at Parliament
TV or attend in person in Committee Room 4, Palace
of Westminster.
Giving evidence will be:
-
DCI Leeann Saunders, South Wales Police;
-
Annie Howell, Director of Income Generation,
IRISi; and
-
Patriche Bentick, Member of the British
Association of Social Workers.
Questions will include:
- Can you provide a broad outline of the way that your
organisation aims to support and improve the response of
frontline workers to victims and survivors of domestic abuse?
- What challenges, if any, do you face when responding to and
supporting victims and survivors of coercive and controlling
behaviour and strangulation?
- Minoritised victims and survivors are often faced with
complex barriers that make reporting abuse more problematic, such
as their immigration status, or so called ‘honour' based abuse.
What challenges do frontline workers face with regard to this?
How can they reduce these barriers?
- What, if any, are the challenges frontline workers are faced
with when identifying and supporting children as victims? What
could be done to improve the response to children?
- What changes, if any, have you noticed or experienced in your
role in the five years since the Act was passed?
