CPS to train staff to spot ‘hidden crimes’ when investigating domestic abuse
Prosecutors have warned that cases of violence against women and girls need wider investigation to ensure investigators do not miss other crimes that are “mostly hidden”.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said there was a “significant overlap” between some offences, with data showing a “growing relationship” between domestic abuse and crimes such as rape, strangulation, so-called revenge porn and stalking.
But director of public prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said there was “underappreciation that abuse often involves different layers of offending.”
Mr Parkinson said improving investigations into violence against women and girls (VAWG) was a personal priority. The CPS has launched a five-year strategy to tackle this type of crime in England and Wales.
The concept of violence against women and girls; It includes crimes such as harassment, stalking, rape, sexual assault and murder.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council says men and boys also suffer such abuse, but it disproportionately affects women.
“It is vital that we train our staff to recognize the full picture of abuse so that the accusations we make reflect the full picture of the crime,” he added.
The CPS said that on average more than a third of rape accusations over the past five years were linked to domestic abuse.
More than 1 in 10 of the honor-related harassment and strangulation or strangulation charges were flagged as domestic violence-related, according to CPS data.
So are more than eight in 10 harassment and revenge porn charges, and more than six in 10 stalking charges.
As part of its strategy, CPS will develop and launch new VAWG training modules on honour-based harassment, forced marriage, female genital mutilation and stalking or harassment.
And he said he would review and update prosecution guidance on domestic abuse to include learning and understanding.
The government has pledged to halve violence against women and girls within ten years.
Baljit Ubhey, policy director and senior officer responsible for the CPS’s VAWG strategy, said prosecutions were a “deterrent”.
He said investigators should not “blink their eyes” or put crimes in boxes, ignoring the overlap between some crimes.
“The evidence shows that these crimes are a complex web of harm that is often concealed, often repeated and often overlooked,” he said.
He continued: “What this means in practice is that when a victim reports a crime, there may be a much deeper pattern of offending across a range of crime types and it is vital that this is investigated in the context of a prosecution.”
The government has promised to halve the VAWG within ten years.
The ONS predicted in July Last year, nearly one in eight women was the victim of sexual assault, domestic abuse or stalking. It was the first time the ONS had given an estimate of the combined prevalence of the three crimes after the Home Office was asked to help monitor the government’s resolve.
A report published earlier this year found the Home Office’s response to the “serious and growing problem” of VAWG was ineffective.
The National Audit Office’s report in January said: The ministry had “lacked an effective system-wide response” to the increasing number of rape and sexual assault cases recorded by police.
A Home Office spokesman said at the time that the report examined the previous government’s “failure to deliver systemic change” and that Labor had “delivered a step change in the government’s response”.
