This week, Sophie Linden, Deputy Mayor, for Policing and Crime attended a virtual visit to Barking and Dagenham Council to hear more about the borough’s whole system approach to tackling domestic abuse, which includes its innovative work focused at perpetrators.

Domestic abuse impacts on all aspects of the community and is becoming increasingly more prevalent during the ongoing pandemic. Tackling this issue is a priority for the council. In 2017/18 Barking and Dagenham had the highest rate of domestic abuse offences in London. Since the beginning of 2019 the council has been delivering a comprehensive programme of work.

Coinciding with the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence campaign which runs from 24 November – 10 December, Sophie Linden along with representatives from MOPAC heard about the range of programmes and interventions that the council is delivering. This included the implementation of DV Flag East in June 2019, a collaboration between the council’s legal team and Barking and Dagenham Citizen’s Advice to improve access to quality legal advice for people experiencing abuse.

In 2019 the council also set up the Barking and Dagenham Domestic and Sexual Violence service, provided by national domestic abuse charity Refuge to support Barking and residents and employees experiencing any form of gender based violence.

In February 2020, the Barking and Dagenham Domestic Abuse Commission was launched, the first of its kind in the country and chaired by Polly Neate, CEO of Shelter - it brings together 10 national experts to explore the normalisation of domestic abuse in the borough, with a clear focus to examine and respond to the attitudes and behaviours that allow domestic abuse to exist.

In January, the Council was one of the first five organisations in the country to be awarded an Everyone’s Business Award recognizing its work to address domestic abuse in the workplace and went on to win further awards at the PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards 2020.

The council is also undertaking innovative work with perpetrators, including a targeted offer delivered with Refuge working on a one to one basis with 30 perpetrators per year and a universal offer delivered by Cranstoun.

Earlier this year the Council’s Children’s Care and Support service adopted the Safe & Together™ Model: an internationally recognised suite of tools and interventions designed to help child welfare professionals become domestic violence informed.  As well as supporting the non-abusive parent it also focuses on working with perpetrators to understand their patterns and behaviour and hold them accountable. Currently a cohort of 40 social workers are undergoing intensive core training on the model, and another 40 are planned for completion this financial year.

Councillor Maureen Worby Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration for Barking and Dagenham Council and sponsor of the Domestic Abuse Commission said: “We set a ‘zero tolerance approach to domestic abuse’ as a priority in 2019, and we have been active in embedding work right across our systems and partnerships to make this a reality ever since.

“It was a great opportunity to demonstrate the momentum of the movement we are building locally, as well as recognise the heart and determined commitment behind some of the services working so hard to protect victims and hold perpetrators to account.”

Sophie Linden, Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, said: “We know that domestic abuse has increased during the pandemic, leaving victims feeling unsafe in their own homes. That’s why we are investing £3.7 million, using new funding from both City Hall and the Government, to enable victims and survivors to access the support and care they need quickly and are fully committed to doing everything we can to ensure dangerous offenders are dealt with.

“But tackling domestic abuse is not just about enforcement – it’s about challenging and changing behaviour through programmes and interventions which bring about sustainable, long-term change.

“There are some terrific examples of that in Barking and Dagenham, particularly with the development of the one-to-one perpetrator programme which tackles head on the attitudes and behaviours that allow domestic abuse to exist. It’s incredibly important that there is a clear and well-funded plan in every London borough that looks at the root causes and patterns of domestic abuse to reduce offending and prevent this devastating form of violence against women and girls.”