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| A major inquiry into the police treatment of domestic abuse cases and vulnerable victims has been ordered by the home secretary, Theresa May. | A major inquiry into the police treatment of domestic abuse cases and vulnerable victims has been ordered by the home secretary, Theresa May. |
| May told the annual Police Federation conference that there was still evidence of too many victims being let down and “shameful attitudes” by some police officers who even exploited their position to develop inappropriate relationships with domestic abuse victims. | |
| The inquiry to be carried out by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Sir Tom Winsor, will investigate why new domestic abuse laws, including on controlling or coercive behaviour, are “not being used anywhere near as systematically as they could be”. | The inquiry to be carried out by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Sir Tom Winsor, will investigate why new domestic abuse laws, including on controlling or coercive behaviour, are “not being used anywhere near as systematically as they could be”. |
| She told delegates in Bournemouth: “We continue to see examples of the same shameful attitudes that HMIC uncovered in 2013. We know of officers who develop inappropriate relationships with victims of domestic abuse. They have ignored their professional duty and their moral responsibility,” she said. | |
| Related: A moment that changed me: having the courage to leave an abusive relationship | Anonymous | Related: A moment that changed me: having the courage to leave an abusive relationship | Anonymous |
| “We do not know the true scale of this, but everyone in this room will know it goes on far more than we might care to admit. Victims of abuse are still being let down and reports not being taken seriously enough. The right skills, training and commitment to protect the vulnerable are still not held by every single police officer.” | |
| May’s sixth annual address to the conference had a strong valedictory feel to it, which led to Steve White, the federation’s chairman, directly asking her if she was going to be moving on shortly from the job of home secretary. She shrugged in response. Unlike some previous years, her speech was greeted by a short burst of polite applause. | |
| May acknowledged that the federation itself had started the process of reform but strongly criticised “questionable and opaque spending”, including £10,000 “leaving presents”, clothing allowances and “what appear to be holiday homes within an overall property portfolio worth some £31m”. | |
| But it was her strong analysis of the need for the police to make further progress in tackling domestic abuse and protect vulnerable victims that she put at the centre of her speech. | |
| The home secretary acknowledged that real improvements had been made in the last two years since officers were revealed to have accidentally recorded themselves calling a victim “a bitch” and “a slag” and one victim disclosed that she had overheard the responding officer say: “It’s a DV [domestic violence], we’ll be a few minutes then we’ll go on to the next job.” | |
| She said more victims were coming forward and the first conviction for coercive control had taken place with many more pending. It was not only victims of domestic abuse who were neglected by the police, it was also victims and survivors of child abuse, of rape, stalking and harassment, and young girls trafficked and held as slaves. | |
| “These crimes are still investigated with different tools and often less urgency than crimes you are more accustomed to or more comfortable with, but which pose much less risk to individuals and communities. | |
| “As HMIC found last year, not a single police force in England and Wales is outstanding at protecting those who are vulnerable from harm and supporting victims, and 31 forces are judged to be either inadequate or requiring improvement. That suggests that substantially more police forces are effective at tackling drug dealers or stamping out anti-social behaviour than are effective at protecting vulnerable victims from rape, domestic abuse or modern slavery.” | |
| The home secretary promised there would be more specialist investigators tackling domestic abuse and in particular rejected the use of restorative justice in cases of serious domestic violence without considering possible psychological damage despite official guidance that it should be considered in every case. | |
| “I simply do not believe it follows either the evidence or common sense to sit vulnerable victims across from perpetrators who for months and years may have destroyed their confidence, manipulated their mind, and beaten their bodies,” said May. | |
| Her speech was applauded by the domestic violence charity Refuge, which welcomed her rejection of the use of restorative justice in cases of intimate partner abuse. | |
| “A ‘canteen culture’ of negative attitudes towards women still exists in forces where domestic violence is not taken seriously – ‘it’s just a domestic’ is still a refrain heard today,” said the Refuge chief executive, Sandra Horley. |