Agenda item

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

6.1      James Lee, Director of Communities, Partnerships and Leisure introduced the report and offered his and the council’s deepest condolences to the family of Sabina Nessa, a teacher at Rushey Green Primary School who had been murdered at the weekend. The following was noted:

·           This was a five-year Domestic Abuse and Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, building on existing partnerships to provide a more co-ordinated and strategic response to tackling violence and abuse, with clear priorities that could be embedded into strategic plans across partner agencies.

·           The strategy was centred around five strategic priorities: prevent, protect, recover, pursue and partnership.

·           The draft strategy was presented to Safer Stronger Communities Committee at its last meeting and Members provided feedback. Feedback was also received via the public consultation that followed, which saw 91 responses.

·           The title of the strategy was developed in consultation with a diverse group of agencies who recognised that women and girls carry by far the highest burden of these crimes, but also that the accepted definition of VAWG includes men and boys as victims. All forms of VAWG are under-reported but domestic abuse was by far the most prevalent VAWG crime impacting on Lewisham residents, and so should be the primary focus of resources.. The opening paragraph of Section 3 of the strategy document had been rewritten to make the rationale for the title clearer to the reader.

·           Priority four of the strategy had been changed from ‘Repair’ to ‘Recover’ following feedback as it was felt that ‘Recover’ was more empathetic, positive and future-facing language. Priority five had been changed from ‘People’ to ‘Partnership’ as it was felt that ‘Partnership’ more accurately reflected the intention behind this strand of the strategy. 

·           Other changes had been made to the wording of the strategy to make more explicit the commitment to: (a) ensuring the strategy covers all forms of VAWG, including sexual violence and harmful cultural practices; (b) improving the way data on all forms of VAWG is measured and analysed;  (c) working in partnership with other London boroughs to develop and deliver services and share good practice; (d) addressing ‘lower-level’ forms of VAWG including street harassment and sexual harassment; (e) meeting the specific needs of survivors who are less likely to access services, including those without English as their first language, those that identify as LGBTQ+, those from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and those or experiencing homelessness and/or multiple disadvantage; and (f) recognising the ways in which violence in relationships manifests itself within different age groups.

6.2      In the discussion that followed the following points were raised:

·           Whilst women make up the majority of victims of domestic abuse, it was estimated that men make up to 25-30% of the victims but only 1% of those referred to the Athena service were men.

It was accepted that male victims were clearly not feeling that this service was for them but work was planned to remedy this. Already, in the last quarter, there had been an increase in referrals from men, thought to have been the result of a targeted awareness campaign and data on this could be provided. “Men Reaching Out” (a male domestic abuse service) would be training practitioners on the disparities and there was now a male officer attending the monthly Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC).

·           One Member of the Committee voiced concern at the use of the term “honour based violence” as it could be interpreted as suggesting a justification for the violence (the protection of family honour). It was suggested that “family killings” would be a more appropriate and accurate term.

6.3       RESOLVED: That the report be noted.