Domestic violence: Don't suffer in silence
This new year started for me with an important message to victims of domestic violence. I spent yesterday speaking to a group of community representatives, journalists and colleagues in the criminal justice system about domestic violence, the impact it has and what we are doing to help victims.
There was a very good reason for choosing to speak about domestic violence at this time of year. Many of us will have just enjoyed a happy Christmas holiday. However, for hundreds, indeed thousands of families, the reality is that it is also a time when domestic violence rises with many more calls to the police, visits to hospital and calls to crisis agencies.
It is a shocking statistic that one in four women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. It is also a well established fact that victims of domestic violence generally suffer many incidents before reporting whats happening to them or taking action. Some may never report these crimes at all.
Here in the East Midlands, we prosecuted over 6,000 cases of domestic violence in 2010/11, with three quarters resulting in convictions. But this is does not represent the full picture. My message is simple - don't suffer in silence. Nobody should be subjected to that kind of abuse, and abusers very rarely stop of their own accord.
That is why I have started the year with this message to victims of domestic violence. We have had a lot of support from the media in the East Midlands in getting that message across. More importantly, we were fortunate to have a victim of domestic violence who has experienced the process of reporting the crimes against her, giving evidence and starting her life again. Her account was so much more powerful than anything I could say, so I'm really grateful to her for sharing such a personal experience with us all.
It is so important that victims of domestic abuse come forward and are willing to give evidence. Many people won't know just how much support there is for victims of domestic violence and yesterday was the first step in helping people understand how important their evidence is in ending the cycle of abuse.
