Group looking into domestic abuse in the Royal Borough to present findings at meeting

A number of key findings made by a group looking into domestic abuse in the Royal Borough will be presented at a council meeting next week.

On Monday, members of the people, overview and scrutiny panel will discuss a report outlining the findings of a task and finish group, set up last year to focus on domestic abuse in the borough and see how it aligned with the Domestic Abuse Strategy 2022-24.

The group had a particular interest in whether the strategy ‘aligned with the lived experiences’ of survivors and victims and if ‘more needed to be done to improve this connection’.

The report found there are ‘additional barriers’ to reporting from the LGBTQ+ community because of ‘fear and stigma’.

As a Patchwork of Provision 2021 report by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner states, 68 per cent of LGBTQ+ victims and survivors ‘wanted access to a specialist ‘by and for’ organisation’ to provide them with help.

The report said there is currently no specialist domestic abuse support for LGBTQ+ victims in the Royal Borough.

The Dash Charity collects LGBTQ+ data as part of its contract monitoring, and national charity Loving Me, which was established in 2022, has now opened referrals for its first refuge for non-binary and transgender people, the report stated.

The report’s task and finish group found there is a lack of data on transgender people and whether they are more likely to be domestic abuse victims.

Findings also revealed that it can be difficult for male domestic abuse victims to seek support as there was a ‘societal perception that men were not able to be victims of domestic abuse’.

The support given to male victims needs to be ‘specially tailored to reach them’ and existing services including BRAVE Too and The Dash Charity, promoted.

The group found communication was a ‘key tool’ and a range of communication methods would be the best way of reaching victims to ‘educate them’ and highlight what help and support was available locally and nationally.

Making a victim’s home safer instead of moving them into a refuge was a preferred option and ‘should be explored as a priority’, the report stated.

Agencies sharing information and working together effectively was ‘crucial’, the group found, to give victims the help and support they need.

But the report highlighted that this can be ‘improved further to support positive outcomes’.

An important part of the multi-agency approach was training, another key finding stated.

Each of the organisations could be ‘involved in a whole system approach’, instead of just individual in-house training to ‘see things from a different viewpoint and make multi-agency links’ with other organisations and teams, the report added.

The findings also noted that councillors are ‘vital representatives in local communities’ and they should be trained on how to spot domestic abuse concerns.

The report further highlights the Stay Ok website, designed by Buckinghamshire Council in partnership with local charity Talkback, which provides information and guidance to those with learning disabilities and autism on staying safe at home and out-and-about in the community.

The Royal Borough’s Domestic Abuse Strategy is due to be rewritten by the end of this year.

It is recommended that panel members note the report and agree a set of recommendations to be put forward for the consideration of cabinet.

This includes having mandatory domestic abuse awareness training for councillors and ensuring victims with protected characteristics (e.g. those from ethnic minority groups, the military, travelling communities and the LGBTQ+ community) are given consideration in the strategy.

To view the report, visit: https://tinyurl.com/ykhs2rxw