An Exploration of Domestic Abuse Patterns and Service Provision in Humberside

Humberside Criminal Justice Board identified emerging evidence that suggested the prevalence and severity of domestic abuse incidents in Humberside may be increasing. The evidence for these changes – increases in the number of MARAC cases in the region, a large increase in the number of reported rapes in the police recorded records of domestic abuse and anecdotal evidence from frontline practitioners – could respectively be explained by systematic changes to referral strategies, natural variation around a small base rate and unconscious bias. However, to ignore this cumulative body of evidence could have catastrophic consequences for victims, families and practitioners. In responses to this, the Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice at University of Hull were approached by Humberside Criminal Justice Board to discuss these issues and were invited to submit a research proposal that could provide insight into this trend. The research team submitted a proposal based around two work packages that aimed to answer three questions: 1. What are the characteristics of domestic abuse incidents, victims and perpetrators? 2. Is the severity of incidents increasing? 3. Can repeat victimisation be predicted? The proposal was reviewed and accepted by Humberside Criminal Justice Board in March 2015, was accepted and work began on the project in June 2015. This report is designed to complement and augment a report prepared by SafeLives (previously CAADA) in 2014 entitled “A Review of Services for Victims of Domestic Abuse in Humberside” and HMIC Review (2014) “Humberside Police’s approach to tackling domestic abuse”, the former of which offers a comprehensive analysis of service provision, commissioning arrangements and funding streams within the Humberside region. While the SafeLives and HMIC reports were comprehensive and valuable, they were not designed to answer specific questions about the nature of domestic abuse in the region, nor did they report the views of frontline practitioners in domestic abuse service provision. Nevertheless, this report builds upon these earlier documents and adds value to the cumulative recent literature on domestic abuse in Humberside