Associate Peter Hilton, in our Family Law team, highlights the issue of domestic abuse and the role of White Ribbon Day in the UK.
Today, 25 November, is White Ribbon Day, also known as the International Day for the Eradication of Violence against Women.
Since the inception of the White Ribbon movement 34 years ago in Canada, the White Ribbon has become an important, internationally recognised, symbol in the fight to end gender-based violence.
In England and Wales, the campaign is led by White Ribbon UK, which describes itself as “the leading charity in England and Wales engaging men and boys to prevent violence against women and girls.”
Explaining the charity’s approach, White Ribbon UK explains:
“Our work is preventative. We focus on supporting individuals and organisations to intervene before harmful attitudes and behaviours towards women and girls can take place. This work is called primary prevention; we want to stop violence from happening in the first place.
Our work is intersectional. White Ribbon UK centre’s women’s experiences across all its work. We remain accountable to all women and girls, and our work to develop allyship in men and boys is led by an understanding that women have different experiences of abuse and violence based on their identities. Adopting an intersectional understanding to tackle harmful gender norms also challenges other forms of discrimination.
Our work is collaborative and focused on positive culture change. Not all men are violent, but all men have a role to play in preventing and, ultimately, ending violence against women and girls. Through our work, we encourage men to learn about the gender norms and traits they embody and how these impact women, and understand the difference they can make by being allies.”
Facts and Figures Highlighting the Issue of Domestic Abuse in the UK
The information below, provided by national charity Refuge, clearly sets out the extent of the issue in this country.
- On average the police receive an emergency call relating to domestic abuse every 30 seconds.
- One in four women will be a victim to sexual assault or attempted assault in their lifetimes.
- On average, one woman is killed by an abusive partner or ex every five days in England and Wales.
- Domestic abuse can increase during pregnancy.
- Domestic abuse is linked to depression and homelessness.
- Domestic abuse can lead women to suicide. 20% of children in the UK have lived with an adult perpetrating domestic abuse.
- 93% of defendants in domestic abuse cases are male and 84% of victims are female, yet women are three times more likely to be arrested for incidents of abuse.
- Domestic abuse costs the UK an estimated £23 billion a year.
How We Can Help
If you and/or your children are at risk of or are experiencing domestic abuse, please contact the police and seek legal advice immediately. Abuse can come in many forms and does not always involve physical violence. It can include any behaviour to obtain control or power over another including emotional abuse, threats and intimidation, sexual abuse, financial and coercive control all of which can be just as harmful as physical violence.
If you are concerned about any aspect of your partner or a family member’s behaviour and feel that you may be suffering from a form of abuse, you can speak to us about potentially applying to the Court for an injunction, which is a form of temporary legal protection, known as a ‘Non-Molestation Order.’ This protects you and/or your children from harm and gives the Police the power to automatically arrest the perpetrator if they breach the Order. Subject to circumstances, this can be done on an urgent basis and in some cases, can be done in the first instance without your partner having prior notice.
You can also apply for an ‘Occupation Order’, which asks the Court to decide who can and cannot occupy the family home. Non-Molestation and Occupation Orders usually last between 6 – 12 months. This can give an important reprieve to allow parties to deal with other issues such as financial or child arrangements.
We can advise and assist with preparing the applications for Non-Molestation and Occupation Orders to Court, including drafting the legal forms and a detailed statement of the facts. You will need to attend Court, although not necessarily in person and we can support and assist by attending the hearing with you. Where appropriate, we can make special arrangements to ensure that you will not come into direct contact with the other party at Court and that a screen will be in place to avoid you seeing the other party. We will also arrange for a specialist barrister to present your case in Court.
If there are further hearings, we will help you to prepare and draft the documentation required. We will advise you at every stage until the process is complete. If there is a case to extend an existing Order, we can help with this and advise you in relation to any breaches that occur. However, you should always contact the police in the first instance if a perpetrator breaches a Non-Molestation Order.
We can also put you in touch with specialist services who may be able to provide other therapeutic and practical support for you and your family where required.
Our Family Law team can advise on domestic abuse applications so please get in touch if you would like to find out more.
For further information or legal advice, please contact law@blandy.co.uk or call 0118 951 6800.
This article is intended for the use of clients and other interested parties. The information contained in it is believed to be correct at the date of publication, but it is necessarily of a brief and general nature and should not be relied upon as a substitute for specific professional advice.
