Rise in domestic violence
Tuesday 31st March 2009, 2:00PM BST.
MORE than 900 cases of domestic violence were reported to the police last year, with over 300 victims being classed as ‘high risk’, it has been revealed.
Official police figures show a 17 per cent rise in domestic attacks since 2007, with the 2008 figure peaking at 924 reported cases. The force dealt with 788 domestic incidents in 2007.
Of the 924 incidents last year, just under half involved allegations of repeated abuse. And in 2008, the force revealed that officers were identifying 20 relationships a month in which someone was at risk. The vast majority of victims are women.
Detective Chief Inspector Dave Minty (pictured) said that people were feeling more confident about coming forward because of advances in the way domestic violence was handled by the force.
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Has this got anything to do with the amount of alcohol consumed in the Island! 90,000 alcoholics clinging to a rock!
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I know this comment will not go down well at all, but I’m going to say it anyway:
Certain members of our society, which have been raised in different parts of the world, have considerably less respect for women, and it is considered almost ‘acceptable’ to use ones fists against them.
Before you all cry “racism!” try watching the excellent program by Trever MacDonald, himself an ethnic minority, when he pointed out this fact. Realism, rather than racism; I am not racist, for the record.
I’m sure this by no means makes up the whole figure but it certainly swells it. That, and as pointed out, Jerseys high alcohol consumption.
Not a nice subject to discuss and I would hope the police will be taking a much tougher stand on domestic violence.
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I’d be interested in the ethnicity of the offenders\victims. Do we need to help a certain area of society?
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I was one of those who reported an incident last year, and it was not well handled at all. In fact, I wish I hadn’t bothered to report it. I was assaulted by my husband, i was heard shouting for help by neighbours, and I phoned the police immediately that I managed to escape the house. I made an official statement down at police hq, but because my husband made a counter allegation against me I ended up going to the Parish Hall on a breach of the peace (by fighting) charge. I still haven’t got over the shock of how it was handled and how little the outcome reflected the reality of the incident. I am a law abiding citizen and always thought that the law would be there to protect me if I needed it – I have changed my mind completely about that now. If this is an improvement on how things used to be handled I dread to think what it used to be like.
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The British Crime Survey reveals that 50% of crimes go unreported and Mr. Minty will realise the police are probably only dealing with the tip of the iceberg, where crime is concerned. I don’t believe the public are more confident in policing, in fact it is likely to be the opposite.
More cases of domestic violence are being reported because it is likely more offences are occurring.
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Domestic violence comes from ignorance, bad upbringing, bad character and psychological issues and probably isn’t helped by poverty and the ready availability of alcohol. It also cuts both ways – most violence against men is unreported. I myself bear the scars of a violent ex-girlfriend, not reported (white and middle class as it happens).
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I agree with you (6) in that violence usually only stems from ignorance, bad upbringing and bad character but I do not believe that it should stem from poverty or alcohol but these are unfortunate times where it is always easier to blame someone or something rather than the persons causing these issues in the first place.
I blame the weather, well the media actually but same principle. We hear nearly daily of freak weather and record breaking floods or draughts but surely this is because the small village in central Asia that is sufferring this freak weather probably never previously had an internet connection to tell the world all about it before or mobile phones to call in the press… i.e. It has always gone on just under the radar…
So of course ‘reported’ domestic violence is on the up, because people are not so afraid anymore to report an incident as perhaps they would have been even as little as 10 years ago where it would have brought about embarassment to the victim as much as the assaulter and even the families. We are actually encouraged to air all our personal issues these days, just look at TV (without naming the shows) and how much of it is dedicated to people publicly going over their issues with a fine comb.
I am not saying that these programs are a bad thing (well apart from lack of choice if your not interested) or even that people should be ashamed to go to the authorities should something happen to them, quite the reverse! But we should not be surprised that the volume of incidents has increased.
Apart from all that I have said are these numbers not very low anyway… just over 900 cases in total with 50% being repeated abuse means that a total of just over 900 people were involved (presuming you need 2 people to cause violence) which in turn means that only 1% of people in Jersey were affected.
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How many of these reported cases are repeat offences I wonder??
It always surprises me why people stay together when the relationship is volatile so it would be interesting to note in how many of these cases the couples are still together!
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Anon at item 4, outlines how her case was mishandled. What she doesn’t highlight, was who was to blame. Was it the States of Jersey Police or the Honorary Police at the Parish Hall Enquiry who mishandled the case?
I am a retired police officer and have dealt with many assaults that occurred in the home. I am well aware that many police officers used to deal with such matters inappropriately, but it was the Centeniers who made the problem worse, by failing to understand the problems involved. Most Centeniers are white males, who often tended to sympathise with the men – they definately need more training if the Island is to sort out the problems of domestic abuse. (I had better add that I am a male and served as a Detective Sergeant in the States Police Child Protection Team in the 1990s)
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Expat2, it was the police who mishandled it – they took nearly 2 months to deal with it and then sent us both to the Parish Hall on a Breach of the Peace charge…
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