4:27pm Friday 11th November 2011
By Corey Ross
VICTIMS of domestic abuse in Wiltshire are getting greater protection thanks to a Home Office pilot scheme.
Magistrates in Salisbury, Swindon and Chippenham have granted 54 Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) during the first three months of the pilot.
A DVPO bars perpetrators from molesting or contacting the victim and from entering the victim’s home, even if is also their home. If they breach the DVPO they can be fined or sent to jail.
A DVPO can be for 28, 21 or 14 days and the aim is to give the victim breathing space to look at their options and make informed decisions about their safety.
Of the 54 DVPOs granted, 16 of them were in Salisbury. Magistrates in Wiltshire refused eight applications, but none of these were in Salisbury.
Acting Detective Chief Inspector Lisette Harvey, the force lead on domestic abuse, said: “We have been given radical new powers during this pilot and we are making full use of them to help improve the safety of people at risk of violence in situations when it has not been possible to charge a perpetrator with a criminal offence.
The 12-month trial began in Wiltshire and two other forces on July 1. It will be evaluated by the Home Office and then Parliament will decide whether the scheme should be adopted nationally.
Chief Constable of Wiltshire Brian Moore, who is the Association of Chief Police Officers lead on violence, public protection and risk, recommended the new measures after being asked by the home secretary to review the laws concerning violence against women and girls.
Mr Moore said it was “grotesque” that, in the immediate aftermath of a domestic abuse incident, the only option was often for the victim and children to be removed from their home because perpetrators were released with no restrictions on their behaviour.
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