Stalking Law Reform
Briefing For MPs and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) Regarding the Domestic Abuse Bill: Stalking, Serial Stalkers and Domestic Abusers
Laura Richards, Founder Paladin National Stalking Advocacy Service
The Domestic Abuse Bill is welcomed and we encourage MPs and PCCs to support the Domestic Abuse Bill. However, it is both concerning and alarming that it omits stalking and, in particular, stalkers and serial domestic abusers, especially in light of the fact that our evidence shows that they repeat offend and go on to commit murder.
Key Issues:
There needs to be a focus on stalking, serial domestic abusers and stalkers – they are the problem;
It is imperative that serial stalkers and domestic abusers are prioritised and proactively identified, assessed and managed by police and probation;
Women are being murdered and the domestic homicide rate is increasing, yet this is still not happening, despite Ministerial agreement that it would and despite the fact that just under 190, 000 people have signed our petition for this to happen;
Placing Clare’s Law on a statutory footing places the onus, yet again on the victim, they have to come forward and ask and deal with the fall out. Further there is often a time delay when sharing information that places them at risk, the scheme does not include stalkers (the most dangerous of abusers due to fixation and obsession) and there is NO duty on police services to identify, track and manage serial domestic abusers or stalkers (many of whom remain unconvicted due to low conviction rates). Therefore the system is flawed;
A cultural shift is urgently needed, one where we prioritise and focus on the perpetrator, ask questions about their offending behaviour, collect and share intelligence about their offending behaviour, assess and manage their behaviour, seek to hold them to account and close their behaviour down.
The domestic homicide rate is increasing at an alarming rate. Male violence is at pandemic proportions, which is only set to continue. The number of women killed as a result of domestic violence in the UK is at its highest level in five years. Last year, 173 people were killed in domestic violence-related homicides, according to data obtained by the BBC from 43 police forces across the UK – an increase of 32 deaths on 2017.
We know through our casework that women and girls continue to be harmed and murdered and abusers are allowed to offend with impunity.
Many survivors including Zoe Dronfield who was victim number 16, Shana Grice victim number 14 and Rachel Williams who was shot and almost killed in her hair dressing salon are supporting our calls for serial offenders to be included on VISOR and managed by MAPPA, along with family members whose loved ones have been murdered including:
John and Penny Clough whose daughter Jane was stalked and murdered in Lancashire;
Drs Clive and Sue Ruggles, the parents of Alice Ruggles;
Elizabeth Griffiths, mother of Laura Stuart, was murdered in Denbigh;
Andrea Darbyshire, whose daughter Rosie Darbyshire was murdered in Lancashire.
The Domestic Abuse Home Affairs Select Committee recommended serial abusers should be placed on ViSOR and MAPPA and the London Assembly supports our calls for the establishment of a Domestic Abusers Register as part of the Domestic Abuse Bill.
In a 2019 report, Domestic Abusers Register, the London Assembly found that a Register would provide the necessary impetus for a shift in focus towards preventing domestic abuse, looking at patterns of behaviour and preventing incidents before they occur.
Rather than creating additional, unnecessary bureaucracy, this Register should be managed through existing Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements, creating a national standard of risk management.
The London Assembly’s call for a Register recognises the fact that survivors of domestic abuse are often repeat victims. Nationally, one in three domestic violence victims have been attacked more than once across England and Wales.
Sadly, there are hundreds of case studies that highlight why it is so important that this happens as a matter of priority. Along with Zoe Dronfield and Rachel William’s case, Jane Clough, Alice Ruggles, Shana Grice and Molly McClaren here are seven more:
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Stefan Carr abused at least four women and has been branded a danger to women. He abused the mother of his children in 2011 and due to escalating abuse she left him. He started a new relationship with Bethany Marchant who he coercively controlled and stalked on separation. He turned up at 0455 demanding to see her laptop and mobile phone, punched her in the face, tried to strangle her with and suffocate her with a cushion. She called 999 and escaped. He attacked her another time, attempting to hang her by putting a noose around her neck.
He had previously abused a 17 year old girl in 2011 he had been in a relationship with. He broke down the door at her friend’s home before carrying out the attack. He grabbed her by the hair, pulled her outside and kneed her to the face. Carr then attacked the victim’s friend’s father by punching him several times to the head. Damage worth £1,996 was caused in the incident.
Carr then attacked another woman in 2012 while they were on a night out together in Castleford. He grabbed her by the throat, headbutted her to the mouth and punched her in the face.
The woman threw her engagement ring and phone at Carr during the incident. The next day he turned up at her home demanding the ring.
The woman tried to hide in the bathroom but he ripped the door off its hinges, headbutted her in the mouth, and repeatedly kicked and punched her.
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Five year old Alex Malcolm was beaten to death by Marvyn Iheanacho, the former partner of his mother, Liliya Breha, after the boy lost one of his trainers in a park in November 2016. Although the probation service knew about Iheanacho’s violent history and of Breha’s existence, they failed to warn her about him5.
Breha was horrified at the conclusion of Iheanacho’s murder trial in July 2017 to hear for the first time that he had a string of previous convictions dating back to 1994 for violent offences against women and children.
According to the terms of Iheanacho’s licence, he was not supposed to have unsupervised access to children under 16, and probation officers were supposed to monitor any new relationships with women. He was “a manipulative high-risk offender with a history of domestic violence who intimidated probation officers” who was allowed to offend with impunity.
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Cherylee Shennan was stabbed to death outside her home by convicted killer Paul O’Hara in March 2014 in front of police officers who had been called to investigate reports of domestic abuse.
O’Hara was previously given a life sentence in 1998 for killing ex-partner Janine Waterworth but was released on licence in 2012.
He had other previous serious convictions for violence against women. He had been assessed in prison as displaying traits of psychopathy. At the time of his release he was assessed as posing a serious risk to women.
Despite his history, O’Hara’s risk was not required to be managed by multi-agency meetings under the Multi-agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA).
The family first suspected that O’Hara was abusing Cherylee when they saw her with serious facial injuries at a family gathering on Bonfire night. At the time, Cherylee gave an alternative explanation for the injuries. However on 1 March 2014, she told her sister Ellen that it was O’Hara who had caused the injuries; that he had also fractured her jaw; and that he had held her hostage at knife point. She also told her sister his offending history. The family called the police.
Police officers attended what they believed to be an ongoing domestic violence incident, without any knowledge of O’Hara’s history. They discovered his history on doing a PNC check at Cherylee’s home. But they viewed the incident as ‘historic’ and took no positive steps to apprehend O’Hara. Nor did they take a full account either from Cherylee, who was frightened and fearful of the consequences of police involvement, or from the family members present who could confirm the injuries they had seen
Coroner James Newman published a ‘prevention of death’ report, raising alarms over the lack of inter-agency communication between probation services and police7.
In his findings, he questioned the role of MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements) for the county.
He said: “Following (O’Hara’s) release there were no local MAPPA meetings, no inter-agency meetings and no significant inter-agency communications regarding the perpetrator, no detailing of his licence conditions, and no information regarding either his nature or the trigger factors of his offending.
“My concern is despite this, and the findings of the report, there is still no mandatory process for the sharing of information between agencies where the offender, despite and known extensive history of domestic abuse and identified trigger factors, is then managed at MAPPA Level 1.”
Before her killing, the inquest heard how Cherylee had suffered a broken nose, repeated facial bruising and a broken jaw at O’Hara’s hands. She was held hostage at knife-point at least twice.
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Rosie Darbyshire was murdered by her boyfriend Ben Topping in Preston. Rosie put in the application under Clare’s Law after others raised concerns about Topping’s violent past – but she did not receive any information on him before he killed her 11 days later.
Topping brutally attacked Rosie with a crowbar on the street. He inflicted more than 50 injuries on her, leaving her unrecognisable.
He had a history of violence and a previous girlfriend had written on
Facebook “You’ll be next.”
Rosie’s family are calling for a database or register for people currently charged with or convicted of violent offences.
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David Gikawa stabbed his ex-partner Linah Keza to death in her east London home. She reported him to the Metropolitan Police Service numerous times and she went to a solicitor to seek a non-molestation order. She highlighted in detail how, over four years, she was harassed, stalked, coercively controlled, intimidated and abused by a man who punched her, attempted to strangle her, suffocated her with a pillow, put a knife in her mouth, threatened to kill any man who came near her and was known to carry a gun in her statement.
“I believe that I will be at risk of significant harm if the respondent is not ordered to stop immediately … I am petrified … I do not want to live a life of violence any more,” she said.
Keza finally ended the relationship in June 2013. Gikawa, a heavy drinker, had eight convictions and had been in prison. In 2006 he accepted a caution for assaulting a partner. A probation report in July 2013 warned that Gikawa was stalking Keza.
The police, when called out, failed to check the intelligence.
On July 28 she called the police three times as he was stalking her and he was outside her house. He slashed her friend’s car tyres and threatened to harm him in Ugandan. Although they identified a number of high risks in the DASH Risk Model, they categorised it as medium risk and failed to fully investigate.
On 31 July, Gikawa entered Keza’s home and stabbed her three times in front of their two-year-old daughter.
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Kerri McAuley was brutally murdered by Joe Storey in Norwich in January 2017. Kerri suffered 19 injuries to her head and face following an attack by Storey, who smeared her blood on his face and took a selfie before leaving her to die.
Storey had violently attacked five previous girlfriends dating back to 2008, and at the time of the murder had three restraining orders to protect former partners.
The terrified mother-of-two endured four hours of being attacked and locked away by Storey. She escaped bloodied and beaten wearing just her underwear through the window of her home.
She called 999 and for 22 minutes pleaded for help, telling the call handler about previous assaults for the first time and saying she was scared of further attacks. She feared he would kill her.
In July 2016 Storey received a restraining order for the prolonged and vicious attack – just like ones he breached repeatedly against his previous partners.
Six months later, Kerri was brutally murdered by Storey.
The domestic homicide review found that had Storey been charged and convicted when he attacked Ms McAuley in July 2016 “he MAY have received another prison sentence, this MAY have prevented the murder of Ms McAuley.”
In addition had he then been under the scrutiny of the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MAPPA) – a monthly meeting where professionals share information on high risk cases – it “MAY have meant more cross-agency resources were alive to his potential and this MAY have had a deterrent effect”.
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Anne-Marie Nield suffered multiple fatal injuries in an assault at the hands of her jealous and controlling ex partner, Richard Howarth at her home in Manchester.
Howarth had been on police bail at the time of her murder, pending a trial for an alleged assault against Ann Marie some months earlier. Anne-Marie had reported him numerous times to police. He was controlling, had smashed her phone during an argument, had damaged her front door, assaulted her numerous times and strangled her.
Howarth was already known to Greater Manchester Police for a “history of violence” against other women and Howarth was categorised as a ‘serious’ and ‘serial perpetrator,’ having committed offences of violence towards previous partners. However, each time Anne-Marie reported it was treated as a single ‘incident’ and she was not told under the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme about his history of violence to other women.
To conclude
Across the UK we are failing women and girls who are primarily the victims and who are being terrified, terrorised and murdered by serial stalkers and domestic abusers. If we want to change this we need to take women and girls seriously when they report and place a duty on police and probation to prioritise and proactively identify, assess and managed serial abusers. Without this measure, Clare’s Law will not work and abusers will continue to be allowed to act with impunity.
This is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue.
Take action now. Sign the petition and write to your MP.
Laura Richards BSc, MSc, MBPsS
Founder Paladin National Stalking Advocacy Service
01/10/19
Abusive Men’s Histories Must Be Joined Up. It’s Time
To Join The Dots.
Abusive men’s histories must be joined up. It’s time to join the dots.
Serial murder, serial rape, stalking, terrorism and domestic violence murders would be prevented if abusive men’s violent histories were proactively joined up and if the women who reported them were listened to and taken seriously.
The Domestic Abuse Bill is back in Parliament for Report Stage and Third Reading today, Monday 6 July. New Clause 33 tabled by MPs Yvette Cooper, Robert Halfon, Sarah Champion and Alex Davies-Jones places a statutory obligation on police, prison and probation to identify, assess and manage serial and serious domestic violence perpetrators and stalkers. This would change culture and ensure questions are asked of the perpetrator and not the victim. It would ensure a multi-agency, problem solving approach by the statutory agencies charged with the responsibility of public protection.
The Bill presents a real opportunity to better protect victims and intervene and prevent future abuse. But as it stands the Bill is woefully inadequate and without strengthening and listening to the survivors and experts who know what needs to change, we will continue to repeat the mistakes of the past and hundreds more women and children will die, when they could have been saved.
Currently, domestic abuse costs society at least £66 billion a year. This estimate does not include stalking or the psychological impact of stalking and therefore the cost is likely much higher.
Three women are murdered by male partners or ex-partners every two weeks. It’s currently five women a week since lockdown began. This does not include stalking related murders of women where there is no relationship.
Domestic and stalking related murders are both preventable and predictable. They do not happen in a vacuum. These are murders in slow motion – the ‘drip-drip-drip’ happens over time on an escalating continuum. The “incident-led” approach to patterned crimes like domestic abuse and stalking is very costly must be stopped as women are paying with their lives and perpetrators are offending with impunity.
One murder costs £2m on average to investigate . One call-out to the police costs roughly £1500.
Responding to perpetrators time and time again is incredibly costly and many commit domestic abuse as well as other crime. Many predatory stalkers, sex offenders and serial killers abuse their partners.
Police research found that 1 in 12 of domestic rapists were raping outside the home. Once a violent and controlling man leaves a partner, it does not mean the violence ends. Evidence suggests they find new partners to abuse. Many had extensive histories of abusing multiple women.
Men who rape are good candidates for sexual violence for both significant women and anonymous women and domestic-related sexual assault is a good indicator of repeat vicitmisation, risk of harm and potential lethal violence. Yet out of just under 400 DV sexual and serious offenders only 2% (6) were convicted (the longest prison sentence was 14 months), despite the fact they were committing serious crime and are dangerous. Most got away with it – and continue to offend with impunity, which is alarming and unacceptable.
Some get away with it and escalate to rape and murder outside the home such as John Duffy, David Mulcahy, Peter Tobin, Levi Bellfield, John Taylor, Anthony Hardy, Mark Dixie and Ian Huntley.
In many terrorist attacks, the perpetrators have practiced at home before their public outbursts . In her book Home Grown, Joan Smith, Chair of the Mayor of London’s Violence Against Women and Girls Board, highlights multiple cases including Khalid Masood (born Adrian Russell Elms) who drove across Westminster Bridge in 2017 targeting pedestrians and stabbed to death PC Keith Palmer. He had a string of criminal convictions for offences involving violence including controlling and physically assaulting multiple women.
Nazir Afzal OBE, a solicitor and former chief crown prosecutor for the north-west of England says: “The first victim of an extremist or terrorist is the woman in his own home.” He points out that 25,000 men are on the radar of police and the security services as potential terrorist threats. “You can’t monitor 25,000. But you shouldn’t have to. You already know which ones to target by flagging up violence against women as a high-risk factor.”
If we want to stop men murdering women at alarming rates, stop serial killers in their tracks, terrorist attacks and mass murder, we have to get much more serious about focusing on the perpetrators when victims of domestic abuse and stalking report to police, particularly when the perpetrator has abused multiple women.
For too long the approach has been to focus on repeat victims – to identify and track them. High risk cases are heard at the MARAC (a multi-agency risk assessment conference for victims). Research by Bristol University has found that a perpetrator who has been assessed as high risk and whose case is heard at MARAC generates costs of £63,000 to police, the justice system, health and other services.
It’s ironic that professionals load the victim up with actions and a safety plan and rarely do any multi-agency problem solving and risk management regarding the perpetrator. This is an alarming and significant gap in public protection across the UK. Serial domestic violence and stalking perpetrators have never been a priority or focus despite my raising it continuously since my Getting Away With It report (2004).
The Bichard Inquiry (2004) further highlighted a failure to manage the intelligence and to share information within and across police services and partner agencies about a serious and serial domestic and sexually violent perpetrator – Ian Huntley – who was an unconvicted dangerous person. This public protection gap has still not been fully addressed.
Furthermore, HMIC Domestic Abuse Is Everyone’s Business (2014) report again highlighted that police forces were not systematically flagging and targeting serial and serious perpetrators yet HMIC highlighted that this was core business for volume crime. Surprisingly, the 2015 progress report failed to even mention perpetrators.
Zoe Jackson’s 2016 probing research highlighted that very little has changed since the HMIC report, although there are pockets of good practice carved out by a few leaders in four areas Essex, Hampshire, North Yorkshire and Northumbria. These areas are taking a multi-agency approach, however, none of the approaches are co-ordinated or consistent with each other nor are they joined up.
Co-ordination, consistency and join up is key. Perpetrators travel. They learn the systems. They change their names. They try and fly under the radar. Police officers say themselves that when offenders move and are new to the area, they have no history about the perpetrator. This was highlighted in the Bichard Inquiry and has still not been remedied. It is detailed information, context and case management information and intelligence that is required, not merely a crime category such as ‘criminal damage’ ‘interfering with a motor vehicle’ ‘burglary’ on PND/PNC, without any context this on its own may seem insignificant and unconnected. Most often this is DV and/or stalking related crimed, however, it’s been pled down to something much lesser. This is exactly how the pattern is missed and the dots are not joined up – and margin of error that we want to mitigate against as it has such a grave consequence.
HMIC and HMICPSI Living In Fear report (2017) into stalking found 100% failure rate across six police forces and Crown Prosecution Service areas. Again, there is systemic failure when it comes to taking stalking seriously. Most often cases are dealt with as harassment and there is no join up regarding perpetrators.
The multi-agency response to perpetrators must be significantly improved, consistent and co-ordinated by the statutory authorities charged with public protection in order to save lives and save money.
The DA Bill presents a real opportunity to make abusive and violent men visible and accountable and better protect women and children. It’s time these dangerous domestic terrorists and stalkers were registered and monitored in the same way as sex offenders and that the victims right to safety and to live free of fear is realised and prioritised over an abuser’s right to freedom.
This is about all of our safety and the safety of our daughters. Whilst serial abusers and stalkers are untracked and unmanaged, we are all at risk.
More than 190, 000 people agree and have signed the petition. Have your voice heard and sign and share the petition here
And victims and survivor voices must be listened to:
Briefing For MPs Ahead of Second Reading of the Domestic Abuse Bill
What You Don’t Know About Domestic Abuse And Stalking Can Kill You Briefing for MPs ahead of the second reading of the Domestic Abuse Bill, April 28 2020
There are no other crimes that are as predictable and preventable as stalking and domestic homicides. Yet, little is done proactively to target the offenders. There are no other crimes where serial offenders are not proactively identified and targeted by police. Yet, domestic abusers and stalkers are allowed to act with impunity. There are no others crime where the police response can make matters worse. Yet, this is true of domestic abuse and stalking.There are no other crimes where victims are routinely told to change their behaviour including to change their phone number, go into hiding in a refuge and or move home/jobs etc as if this, and this alone, will stop the perpetrator’s behaviour. Yet this is true of domestic abuse and stalking.
And yet the most dangerous place for a woman is in the home.
In the UK, on average 138 women are murdered each year at the hands of an abusive male (ex)partner, most of whom are serial. I highlighted the urgent need for serial abusers to be proactively identified, tracked and managed using ViSOR and the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements in my 2003 Metropolitan Police Service report entitled Findings from the Multi-agency Domestic Homicide Reviews and again in my 2004 report Getting Away With It: A Profile of the Sexual and Serious Offenders.
Since then some 2346 women and countless children have been brutally murdered.Some perpetrators murdered more than one woman, and some have abused six victims or more. For example, there were 15 other women in Zoe Dronfield’s case and 13 in Shana Grice’s case.
Why is this being allowed to continue?
If that’s not enough, on average it costs around £1.54-£2m) to investigate a murder. Thousands of lives are taken and destroyed, and, it’s a huge financial cost to society. With domestic murders at a five year high it’s evident that this reactive approach is not only very costly, it doesn’t work and leaves women and children unprotected. Since lockdown began 16 women and four children have been murdered.
If this isn’t a wake-up call, I don’t know what is.
The time to act is now.
The Domestic Abuse Bill had it’s second reading on April 28 2020. The Bill was hailed as pioneering and world leading by former Prime Minister Theresa May. However, the current draft Domestic Abuse Bill is neither of those things. It fails to ring fence funding for life saving specialist services who work with victims and it fails to include any provision around domestic abuse perpetrators or stalkers. This is not just a gap, it is a massive chasm putting women and girls more at risk.
Currently only 1% of perpetrators receive an intervention. How can this be right?
We cannot keep doing the same thing – expecting services to run on a shoestring, tweaking definitions and laws around the margins and allowing offenders to act with impunity – and expect to have any real impact on women’s safety and the safety of their children. An urgent cultural and systems shift is now needed where we focus on the problem – the perpetrators. Clear and consistent messages and action must be taken to stop them from abusing and murdering women and children.There must be no safe houses for abusers. Perpetrators must be focused upon. It will save lives and money. Women’s lives matter. It’s time for change.
How you can help:
Click the link to sign the petition.
Click the link for template letter to adapt and send to your MP.
Laura Richards April 27 2020
Founder, Paladin National Stalking Advocacy Service
Write To Your MP:
Serial Domestic Abusers and Stalkers Must Be Proactively Identified and Managed
[MP’s name]
House of Commons,
London,
SW1A 0AA
[Date]
Dear [MP’s name],
I am your constituent and I’m writing to you about the Domestic Abuse Bill that is going through Parliament at the moment. I want to ensure serial domestic violence perpetrators and stalkers are proactively identified, assessed and managed just like sex offenders. The Domestic Abuse Bill presents an opportunity to create real change.
The reason this issue concerns me is because many women and girls have been abused, terrorised and murdered over the years, and it is getting worse.
Domestic abuse and stalking are the only crimes where the serial abuser is not proactively identified and managed. Why?
Hollie Gazzard was stalked and murdered by Asher Maslin. He was involved in 24 previous violent offences, three on Hollie, 12 on an ex-partner, three on his mother, four on others. Why was Hollie left at risk?
Kerri McAuley was stalked and murdered by Joe Storey. He broke every bone in her face. When she left him he bombarded her with 177 calls. He had many convictions for abusing many women since the age of 14. Two women had taken out restraining orders. Why were the risks not joined up?
Linzi Ashton was raped, strangled and murdered by Michael Cope. He strangled two previous partners and his repeat pattern of abuse towards women was not joined up. Why not?
Justene Reece took her own life. Nicholas Allen coercively controlled Justene and stalked her relentlessly when she left him. She “ran out of fight.” Allen had been convicted for assault and harassment of other women. None of this was joined up. He was charged with coercive control, stalking, and manslaughter after she died. Why?
Women are being murdered at pandemic rates. Currently police rely on victims to report crimes and often it is the victims who are forced to modify and change their behaviour, flee their homes and disappear themselves in order to stay safe. Why should they? This doesn’t happen with any other crime. Why is the focus not on the perpetrator and their behaviour?
We need a cultural shift through law to ensure the perpetrator is the focus and that they must change their behaviour and take responsibility. Serial offenders should be the ones who are tracked, supervised and managed and not the victim.
The problem is widespread and this must be placed on a national and statutory footing.
Offenders move and travel and all police services, probation and the prison service as well other agencies including specialist domestic abuse and stalking services should work together to better protect women and girls.
Serial domestic abusers and stalkers should be included on the Violent and Sex Offenders Register and managed via the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements. The system already exists but should be enhanced to ensure join up of intelligence and information.
MAPPA+ Meetings
With MAPPA, the prison and probation service lead and chair meetings as well as police, which is why MAPPA is the correct forum, however, it must be enhanced to MAPPA+.
MAPPA+ would include other specialist domestic violence agencies including specialist caseworkers like Independent Domestic Violence Advisers and Caseworkers and stalking services including Independent Stalking Advocacy Caseworkers must be invited to attend, as they hold the specialist knowledge about the dynamics of coercive control and stalking.
How would MAPPA+ work in practice?
A new category under MAPPA+ should be introduced: Category 4 Serial and Serious Harm Domestic Violence and Stalking Perpetrators.
Police, Probation and Prison must proactively identify serial perpetrators under this new Category 4 and co-ordinate a risk management plan to engage, problem solve and/or target perpetrators.
Serial is defined as two or more victims where the perpetrator has been convicted for one domestic violence and/or stalking related offence, caution, acquittal or where orders exist including a Domestic Violence Protection Order, Stalking Protection Order, Restraining Order, Non-Molestation Order, Criminal Behaviour Order and/or Violent Offender Order. The category must also include those thought to be at risk of offending.
These orders must be used along with clear positive obligations just like Risk of Sexual Harm Orders are used for sex offenders. Positive obligations would be placed on a perpetrator including:
1. They must attend a treatment programme;
2. If they change their name, they must notify police;
3. If they move they must notify police;
4. If they go abroad they must notify police;
5. If they start a new relationship, they must notify police.
A Serial Priority Perpetrator Caseworker would be required in every area to work across Police and partner agencies, funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner. They would have responsibility for collating and assessing cases and selecting them to be heard at MAPPP+.
This will change the culture, hold violent men to account and responsible for their behaviour and it will save lives by protecting women, ensuring that it is the perpetrators who are pro-actively monitored and managed.
This issue affects me because……. [Say something here that describes why this affects you and why you are supportive of the campaign, including if you or a family member has been affected by stalking or domestic abuse.]
Just under 190, 000 people have signed the petition
Please raise my concerns by asking questions in Parliament about why serial stalkers and domestic violence perpetrators are not being tracked, managed and supervised routinely like sex offenders are and support the amendment in the Domestic Abuse Bill.
If you would like further information on these issues, click the link
I would be very grateful to know if you will be voting in favour of New Clause 49 for serial and serious domestic violence perpetrators and stalkers to be tracked to prevent further abuse. The amendment was tabled by Yvette Cooper MP, Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee and has the support of Caroline Nokes MP, Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee, Harriet Harman MP, Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights and Rosie Duffield MP. Please add your name in support.
You can contact me at [email] or [telephone].
Thank you for your help with this matter, I look forward to your response.
Best wishes,
[Your name]
Cross Party MPs and Select Committee Chairs Call For Serial and Serious Domestic Violence Perpetrators and Stalkers To Be Tracked To Prevent Further Abuse
A group of cross-party MPs and select committee chairs have tabled an amendment to the Domestic Abuse Bill that would make arrangements for serial and serious domestic abuse perpetrators and stalkers to be registered and monitored in the same way other serial and violent offenders are.
I have worked on many cases over the years and the same failures, the same patterns repeat. The lessons are never learned.
When women and girls report the known men who abuse, terrorise, rape and stalk them more often they are not believed and the perpetrator’s behaviour is left unchecked, despite the fact they may have abused multiple women.
In fact, even if a perpetrator abuses 3, 5 or 18 women, they are no more likely to go to prison than if they abuse one woman.
Women are being spectacularly failed every day. It is systemic failure and we need urgent law and culture change to focus on the perpetrator’s behaviour.
I coined the term ‘murder in slow motion’ for a reason. Most of the violence against women and girls cases are just that – a ‘drip-drip-drip’ of abusive behaviour over time and perpetrators who are not stopped or held to account – and so they continue and we continue to count the costs in women’s and girls lives
Cases on Twitter I’ve highlighted where serial perpetrators have abused multiple women and sometimes killed up to 3-4 women:
These are not ‘isolated incidents.’ Women are routinely failed on a micro and macro level.
There were many opportunities for intervention and prevention.
These men had extensive histories of coercive control and stalking. They were allowed to offend with impunity.
It is women and children that are being abused, terrorised, raped, stalked and murdered at pandemic rates – and whereas pandemics are unpredictable and very difficult to control – male violence can be controlled and stopped if it mattered enough.
We must make these violent men visible. We must make these violent men accountable.
The Domestic Abuse Bill presents the opportunity for real change. I strongly urge the Government to look at the evidence base of hundreds of women and girls who have been abused, terrorised, raped and murdered by serial domestic violence offenders and stalkers who were allowed to offend with impunity and ensure this important amendment is supported in the DA Bill.
And those who are against this are, quite frankly, part of the problem.
If you would like to help and support the campaign please:
WRITE TO YOUR MP (click the link) and ask for them to support Amendment 49.