I read a suggestion the other day
from the Association of Chief Police Officers (P.L.O.D) concerning men who have
a history of violence towards their partners. They support a Register, similar to the Sex Offenders Register, listing
the details and current whereabouts of those convicted of domestic violence,
and who are, by inference, likely to re-offend.
This proposal has been around for
some time. It was last kicked into the
long grass back in 2003, when some twerp in the Home Office with nothing better
to do, produced a consultation document to this effect. It went down like a lead balloon, and until
PLOD breathed new life into it, everybody thought it was dead and buried.
Love is a strange emotion,
bringing together the most unlikely partners, and according to statistics,
around 60% of partners stick it out through thick and thin, for richer for
poorer and all that.
Domestic violence is all too
real, not just for battered women, but for PLOD, the prosecuting authorities
and the courts. In its extreme form, the
violence is almost unimaginable, and often committed in front of children. All too often, the violent man suffers from a
pathological disorder, which accounts for unexplained mood swings, and once the
dark mood passes, he is full of remorse.
Then again, there are a few,
hopelessly inadequate in all walks of life, who take a perverse and sadistic
pleasure in inflicting pain on defenceless women, and for whom little or
nothing can be said in mitigation.
But the real problem is not the
fact that some men are given to violence, it’s the emotion that cannot be
stripped from the equation. Time and
again, even after severe beatings, the violent man begs his victim to forgive
him and take him back, and time and again, she does so, knowing she shouldn’t,
but hoping against hope that he will reform, and that this time, he means it.
So what is to be done? A Register is not the way forward. It may help, so I don’t dismiss the idea out
of hand, but it’s not the solution. The
solution is all about squaring the circle, which is remarkably unhelpful. First, there must be much more support for
battered women, and not just a night or two in a Women’s Refuge. A battered woman should be treated from the
outset as a victim of crime, with the police being informed as soon as she
walks through the door.
They, in turn,
must give the case the same priority as they should over any allegation of
violence, which must rule out a caution or other labour saving and utterly
useless device. There already exists a
plethora of legal sanctions to keep the offender away from his battered
partner, on pain of imprisonment regardless of conviction, and these must be
used to full effect.
But above all, the Crown
Prosecution Service must be more supportive and proactive. They should know that between arrest and
trial, the battered partner is likely to retract her complaint, either because
she wants him back, or, more likely, she fears the consequences of giving
evidence. After all, he knows where she
lives.
The Social Services and the local
authority must also put their collective shoulders to the wheel. The battered woman needs emotional as well as
physical support to rebuild her life, and not simply expressions of condolence.
The CPS must take the lead in
prosecuting the offender, even where the battered woman is a reluctant
witness. They too have powers, not just
to compel her to attend trial with a witness summons, but screens or a video
link to allow her to give her evidence in the least stressful circumstances.
All this costs money, and it’s
easy to throw in the towel with a reluctant witness. After all, if the battered woman can’t be
bothered to turn up for trial, or having turned up, departs from the script,
why bother?
We should bother because it’s our
duty to protect the vulnerable, the more so where children are involved. After all, Pontius Pilate washed his hands,
and look what happened to him.
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