Recently in Domestic violence Category

 by Allan Norman

There is a fascinating thread on CareSpace, discussing letters sent to survivors of domestic violence following police referral. While it started as a discussion of the appropriateness of such letters, there is a signifcant debate about the ethics of lying to a man who picks up the phone when you wanted to speak to the woman survivor, about who you are.

The argument goes: the man may be the perpetrator; the woman may receive a beating at his hands, simply because of the fact of an unknown caller, or the fact of a caller from social services. To avoid this, lie about who you are - the actual example under discussion being a social worker saying they are a telesales person.

by Allan Norman

If domestic violence reduction initiatives reflect commitment to the cause, then it is high up on the government's agenda. The recent Practice Direction 'Residence and Contact Orders: Domestic Violence and Harm' emanated not from the government, however, but from the President of the Family Division of the court system.