Violence against women – quarterly briefing, spring 2009

08/09
27 May 2009
MPA briefing paper 08/2009

Author: Lynne Abrams, Oversight and Review Team

This briefing paper has been prepared to inform members and staff. It is not a committee report and no decisions are required.

Summary

1. This is the first quarterly briefing on developments in the field of violence against women (VAW). The briefing is intended to update Members on any issues arising from the MPA or MPS work in the field, as well as external developments that may be of interest.

VAW at committees

2. Members will remember the recent high profile cases of John Worboys and Kirk Reid, both serial sex attackers whose cases and the MPS investigations hit the media in March and April. Sexual violence, therefore, took a lead on the agenda at Full Authority in March. Concerns were noted that reported domestic violence had increased by almost 5% and rape by 14.5%, in contrast to reductions in other areas of violent crime. However it was noted that any increase in reporting should be viewed as a positive sign, and that reported serious sexual offences had not increased. Obvious concerns raised by members included the impact of these two cases on public confidence. A report on drug-facilitated sexual assault was also discussed in the light of the Worboys case.

3. The SOP Committee on 7 May took a report on the restructure of Sapphire units (the teams which investigate allegations of sexual assault and rape) which included moving them from Territorial Policing to a bespoke Specialist Crime Directorate. The member discussion included raising concerns that local knowledge might be reduced when investigation of sexual offences is centralised. The MPS responded that this new command would operate in a similar fashion to SCD5, the Child Abuse Investigation Command, and therefore teams would be based in boroughs or brigaded. Another concern was that the well established links between the various forms of violence against women, such as domestic violence, prostitution, trafficking and exploitation as well as links with child protection might be compromised. Assurances were given that the MPS were aware of the possible risks and strongly committed to ensuring that the new command was not the same work under a different leadership but an improvement in service provision.

4. The MPA response to both the National and Mayoral (London) VAW Strategies will be presented to CEP committee in May and July respectively, as well as a paper on women’s safety and the Olympics in July.

MPA update

5. The MPA Domestic and Sexual Violence Board, chaired by Cindy Butts, successfully re-launched in April with a presentation from AC John Yates on the Worboys and Reid cases and the re-structure of Sapphire units. He informed the DSVB that the vision is to have a specialist unit capable of delivering a response 24/7, with ring-fenced detectives, and that this is to be achieved at nil cost. A Project Board has been set up to manage the process and the MPA is represented there.

6. Concerns were raised about public confidence in police investigation of rape in the wake of Worboys and Reid – both cases are currently with the IPCC for their investigation, and it was stated that the MPS could do more to engage with communities in general and women in particular on this issue. It was also noted that whilst sexual violence was high on the current agenda, something else would be flavour of the month soon and it was the responsibility of the MPA to ensure that the MPS are held to account on these assurances.

7. Bexley BOCU also reported to the DSVB and was congratulated on their strong performance, clear leadership style and obvious commitment to tackling domestic and sexual violence. From the DSVB discussions, one area they hoped to improve was engaging with women’s groups in the borough. The next DSVB will be held on 12th June and Greenwich and Richmond will present to the Board.

8. The MPA is represented at officer level at the ACPO Regional Honour-based Violence working group, the MPS LGBT strategy group, and the Public Protection Steering Group.

MPS update

9. The restructure of Sapphire remains the most significant recent development in the MPS. The projected date for the creation of the new unit is 1 September 2009, and before then issues such as training, balance of experienced detectives and ensuring that TPHQ is not left with a skills deficit, accommodation and budgets will have to be managed. In the meantime, TPHQ retains control of sexual violence investigations and work with partners such as the Havens continues.

10. On the domestic violence front, the Violent Crime Directorate will be introducing a ‘repeat victimisation’ flag on the CRIS system, allowing for better recording. As Members know, domestic violence cases have high instances of repeat victimisation with severity often increasing over time.

11. Operation Maxim, the MPS Human Trafficking Team, along with other MPS officers, attended the Equality and Human Rights Commission roundtable discussion on women’s safety and the Olympics, and will continue to engage at partnership level. Officers from the MPS Clubs and Vice Unit visited Lithuania in April to raise awareness of Lithuanian women trapped in the British sex industry and gave a presentation and television and radio interviews.

MPS borough performance

12. The MPS produces a weekly and monthly public protection report, outlining borough and corporate performance across rape, serious sexual offences, and domestic violence as well as other forms of hate crime and youth violence. The report identifies which boroughs are meeting targets for Sanction Detections or other performance measures. Data for this briefing has been drawn from the Public Protection Performance Report week ending 3 May 2009.

13. In terms of VAW performance, the Sanction Detection target rate (SD) for the MPS for rape [1] this financial year (2009-10) is 36.9%. At this stage in the financial year, most boroughs have met or exceeded this target [2] or have a disproportionately low percentage rate because of small figures [3]. Of those who do not fall into this category, Brent are of concern as they have a single SD from 11 offences, and Newham also a single SD from 16 recorded offences. Islington are doing well with 4 SDs out of 6, and Southwark has achieved 6 SDs from 7 offences.

14. On the domestic violence (DV) front, the target for the MPS is 45.7%. Volume of DV is higher, allowing for perhaps a more accurate reading of the data. Almost 5000 domestic violence offences have been recorded this financial year with particularly high figures in Croydon, Lewisham, and Southwark. Of these ‘high volume boroughs’, only Southwark does not meet the SD target. Hackney at 19.1% and Brent at 27.2% are of more concern, particularly since DV cases provide a relatively accessible suspect. Leading the pack is Redbridge at 63.7%.

Developments in the field

15. Members will be aware that the Mayor launched the London VAW Strategy for consultation in April, hot on the heels of the National VAW Strategy launch in March (see afore-mentioned Committee papers for more details). One of the DSVB Member organisations, Eaves, has launched a new advice centre in addition to support work for homeless women, teenagers, trafficked women and victims of sexual assault.

16. The Crown Prosecution Service is in the process of developing a tool to measure VAW victims’ experience of the criminal justice process, and talks with the MPS are planned to discuss joint performance measures locally to ensure closer working and better criminal justice outcomes.

17. ACPO, NPIA and the CPS launched the first joint ACPO/ CPS Guidance on investigating and Prosecuting Rape, which aims to enhance successful prosecutions and is accompanied by joint performance measures nationally and a stronger partnership approach.

Violence against women and children statistics

• Domestic violence is the leading cause of morbidity for women aged 19-44 - greater than cancer, war and motor vehicle accidents.
• In England and Wales, two women a week die at the hands of their domestic violence abuser.
• Home Office figures published in February 2008 reveal that thirty three children were murdered by their parents in the previous year.
• 1 in 5 teenage girls have been assaulted by a boyfriend and young women are particularly at risk of sexual violence in comparison to other age groups.
• Up to 45% of rapes are committed by current or ex-partners.

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