ISSUES
: Domestic Violence
Chapter 2: Tackling domestic abuse
24
to be prosecuted under existing
legislation, which can lead to
sentences of up to 14 years in prison.
The change in the law will be made via
an amendment to the Criminal Justice
and Courts Bill, which includes a
number of measures to toughen up
sentencing.
These include ending automatic
half-way point release for criminals
convicted of rape or attempted rape of
a child, or serious terrorism offences,
and ensuring that all offenders
who receive the tough Extended
Determinate Sentence (EDS) are
no longer automatically released
two-thirds of the way through their
custodial term.
Notes to editors
Sending images of this kind may,
depending on the circumstances,
be
an
offence
under
the
Communications Act 2003 or the
Malicious Communications Act 1988.
Behaviour of this kind, if repeated,
may also amount to an offence of
harassment under the Protection from
Harassment Act 1997.
Specific legislation also applies to the
making, dissemination or possession
of indecent photographs of children
under the age of 18.
The maximum penalty for possession
of indecent photographs of children is
five years in prison.
Creation and distribution of such
photographs carries a maximum
penalty of ten years.
If anyone has been a victim of this kind
of behaviour they should get in touch
with the police immediately.
Follow the Ministry of Justice on
Twitter @MoJPress and get involved
in the discussion using #revengeporn.
For more information contact the
Ministry of Justice Press Office on
0203 334 3536.
12 October 2014
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The above information is
reprinted with kind permission
from the Ministry of Justice
and The Rt Hon. Chris Grayling
MP. Please visit
for
further information.
© Crown copyright
Getting it right first time
Executive summary from the report by SafeLives.
From a response to
high-risk victims to a
response for all victims
and children
The SafeLives approach has
transformed how high-risk domestic
abuse is addressed in the UK. Last
year our work supported more than
50,000 adults parenting around
70,000 children, all of whom were
living with high-risk abuse. More than
60% of victims receiving support
through this approach reported that
the abuse stopped.
But, of course, this system is effective
only for victims of high-risk domestic
abuse. It is not – nor was it intended to
be – a response to all victims and their
families. The clarity of the national
approach to high-risk victims has not
been matched by a similar focus on
other victims and family members.
And few areas take a strategic
overview of how they respond to
domestic abuse.
SafeLives is starting a programme
to understand how to create the
full system change we need to stop
domestic abuse and save lives. Wewill
start by looking at how we can identify
every family where there is domestic
abuse as quickly as possible – the
topic of this article.
We have to find every
family where there is
domestic abuse much
more quickly
Why do we need to find
families earlier?
The impact of domestic abuse on the
victim and on children – even once
they have achieved safety – is severe
and long-lasting. And families live with
domestic abuse for too long before
getting effective help – on average 2.6
years for high-risk abuse and three
years for medium-risk. Given that
many children living with domestic
abuse are very young, the impact on
them is severe.
At the point when a victim gets help,
the abuse is likely to be escalating in
either frequency or severity or both.
Cutting the time it takes to find and
help victims and their families is
critical to stop murder, serious injury
and enduring harm. As the cost per
family where there is domestic abuse
is £18,730, it is also expensive for the
taxpayer.
Many victims do try to get
help, but don’t get the right
help
It is not inevitable or acceptable that
victims should try repeatedly to stop
the abuse before they get the help
they need. There are still far too many
