HC Deb 24 February 2003 vol 400 cc319-22W
Sue Doughty

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department has separate strategies for tackling domestic violence against(a) men and (b) women; and if he will make a statement. [96380]

Mr. Denham

The Government's policies are designed to ensure that victims of domestic violence receive help and support irrespective of gender, whilst recognising that this is a crime which predominantly affects women. Women are more likely to experience such violence over a lifetime, more likely to experience repeat victimisation, more likely to be injured and seek medical help, and more likely to experience frightening threats. Ministers have therefore emphasised that all forms of domestic violence are unacceptable and must be recognised and treated seriously, but have retained the policy focus on domestic violence against women, and children affected

by domestic violence. This focus for the immediate future was agreed by the Ministerial group on Domestic Violence.

Sue Doughty

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what statistics his Department has collated on the extent of domestic violence against(a) men and (b) women; and if he will make a statement. [96381]

Mr. Denham

Domestic violence is not separately identified in recorded crime statistics collected by the Home Office.

The British Crime Survey (BCS) provides information on the number of incidents of domestic violence in England and Wales. It estimated that there were 122,000 incidents of domestic violence against men and 514,000 incidents against women in interviews in 2001/2.

The BCS figures are derived from a sample and so are subject to sampling error. Moreover, the BCS is carried out by face-to-face interviews and some respondents may be unwilling to reveal experience of domestic violence to interviewers. The 1996 BCS included a self-completion component on domestic violence to encourage disclosure. Results were published in Home Office Research Study No. 191—copies are available in the Library. This more confidential approach to measurement revealed that the proportion of women that were victims of domestic assault in the last year was over three times higher than in the main BCS. It found that six per cent of women and five per cent of men had been threatened or assaulted by a current or former partner in the last year.

Sue Doughty

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent research his Department has commissioned on domestic violence suffered by(a) men and (b) women; and if he will make a statement. [96382]

Mr. Denham

Research commissioned by the Home Office is listed. The number of men included in samples is usually too small for any meaningful analysis to be conducted.

Findings from the British Crime Survey Inter-Personal Violence Module. A specialist self-completion module was included on the national British Crime Survey in 2001 to measure the prevalence and extent of domestic violence, rape and sexual assault and stalking. The questions were addressed to both men and women. The findings from this survey will be reported in the summer of 2003.

Preventing Repeated Domestic Violence: A Demonstration Project on Merseyside, Police Research Group Crime Prevention Series, Paper 49, 1994 by Sam Lloyd, Graham Farrell and Ken Pease: an evaluation of a police led intervention to reduce repeated calls to the police.

Preventing Domestic Violence to Women, Police Research Group, Crime Prevention Unit Series, Paper 48, 1994 by Rebecca Morley and Audrey Mullender: a literature review on how to deal effectively, with incidents of Domestic Violence.

Policing Domestic Violence: Effective Organisational Structures, Police Research Series Paper TOO, 1998 by Joyce Plotnikoff and Richard Woolfson.

Domestic Violence: Findings from a new British Crime Survey self completion questionnaire. Home Office Research Study 191, 1999 by Catriona Mirrlees-Black. This provides data from the 1996 Domestic Violence self completion module.

Domestic Violence Matters: an evaluation of a development project. Home Office Research Study, 193, 1999 by Liz Kelly: an evaluation of an intervention by two civilian crisis workers based in a police station to look at effective ways of providing crisis support and advice to victims of Domestic Violence who have reported incidents to the police.

Arresting Evidence: Domestic Violence and Repeat Victimisation. Police Research Series, Paper 104, 1999 by Jalna Hanmer, Sue Griffiths and David Jerwood: an evaluation of a police-led intervention to explore the effectiveness of the police using repeat victimisation as a way of effectively prioritising cases and allocating resources.

Reducing Domestic Violence: What Works? Briefing Notes: Policing and Reducing Crime Unit, Crime Reduction Research Series, 2000: a series of literature reviews on which approaches and interventions are effective in reducing incidents of domestic violence in a number of different settings.

Crime Reduction Programme: Reducing Violence against Women Initiative (VAWI) is part of the national evidence-led Crime Reduction Programme which funds and independently evaluates multi-agency interventions to find out which approaches and policies are effective in reducing crime. Some 34 victim focused projects were funded as part of the Violence Against Women Initiative (25 specifically addressing domestic Violence) in July 2000, and these projects are still being evaluated to assess their impact and cost. Findings are due to be reported later this year.

Angela Watkinson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the timetable is for the Green Paper on domestic violence. [97614]

Mr. Denham

[holding answer 13 February 2003]: The consultation paper, setting out proposals to prevent domestic violence, deal with perpetrators and provide increased support to victims, will be published by Summer 2003. It will aim to generate a comprehensive response from the public, voluntary sector and others, to ensure the widest possible agreement on what needs to be done to prevent and deal with domestic violence.