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Women, Justice and Gender Equality

First, let me compliment my hon. Friend on her work in the domestic violence arena by serving on the Joint Committee on Human Rights. She obviously also exhibits powerful local leadership and intervenes where that is necessary. If she would like to come to talk to me, we shall try to unblock the jam she describes. It is not right that courts should operate in that way; they should operate around the interests of the victim. There are now multi-agency risk assessments—they have been operating since 2003—which are triggered by the independent domestic violence advisers. They engage the police, probation services, local authorities, health agencies, housing agencies and the refuges and women’s safety units, and they share information to reduce harm to very high risk victims and children. Audit shows that, 12 months later, four out of 10 former victims suffer no recurrence of domestic violence. They are repeat sufferers, many having suffered for years, they are at high risk, and the most dangerous time is when someone leaves. Therefore, the results are very promising. I am delighted that Redcar and Cleveland Women’s Aid has a trained IDVA. Ingrid Salomonsen, who runs that Women’s Aid, tells me that the multi-agency meetings make agencies sit up and take notice when they hear the reality of a survivor’s experience, and the protection put in place really works.