(PA)
(Picture: PA Archive)Nearly two thirds of domestic abuse killers have a history of previous offending, a Home Office study warned on Wednesday in new evidence of the gaps in the protection given to women.
The study, which analyses the cases of 127 female and male victims, reveals that around half of those responsible for their deaths were “known to agencies as an abuser”.
This knowledge was held most often by police, but also by others such as children’s social services, health staff and housing authorities who might have been able to raise the alarm to ensure or improve preventative action.
Today’s study also discloses that half of victims had been abused by a previous partner and that 20 per cent had seen their cases referred to a “multi-agency risk assessment conference” to try to establish ways to protect them.
As well as physical abuse, “aggravating factors” identified included coercive control — the most frequent problem suffered by victims — as well as physical and digital stalking. A smaller number were threatened over their immigration status by their abuser.
Half of the killings, most of which occurred in 2017 or 2018, were carried out with a knife or other sharp instrument. A quarter were by strangulation, and eight per cent were caused by “blunt force trauma” from an assault. Four out of five victims in the study were women. Three quarters of the deaths involved a former or current partner. The remaining perpetrators were other family members. The ages of the victims ranged from under 18 to 94, with an average age of 41.
Home Secretary Priti Patel today published a new domestic abuse action plan including more use of electronic tagging to monitor convicts leaving prison who pose a risk to women and girls.
There will also be investment in efforts to tackle perpetrators’ behaviour and attitudes and £7.5 million spent on helping health staff identify and refer abuse victims for assistance. Ministers will consider the creation of a new register of domestic abuse offenders and potential statutory leave for victims.
Ms Patel said the plan focuses on making it easier for victims “to access the help and support they need, while taking tough action against perpetrators”.
The charity Refuge welcomed the plan, but said that “some of the announcements appear to reflect existing polices and unfortunately don’t offer anything new”.
