Today, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced £15 million for services that help women and girls who are victims of violence in the capital.
It comes after the Mayor’s Office for Police & Crime (MOPAC) found that the number of domestic abuse offences rose by 63% between 2011 and 2018.
Spokesperson for the London Assembly Domestic Abusers Register campaign, Len Duvall AM said:
“Domestic abuse offences are increasing at an alarming and devastating rate.
“Today’s announcement from the Mayor is a step in the right direction, however, to save the lives of women and girls across London we need a Domestic Abusers Register. The London Assembly has been campaigning for a Register for almost 2 years now and it is encouraging to see the Mayor has reiterated his support for it today.
“A register will put vital information in the hands of women and girls about the partners they’re potentially beginning a relationship with. Having access to this information could be the difference between life and death.”
“The extra money announced today will welcomed by those organisations who help women to escape this awful crime, but we need to work on reducing the number of instances in the first place.”
“The Assembly has also had assurances that the Mayor will provide additional money which will enable research into how a Register could act as an effective, value for money tool in preventing repeat offending [1]. In doing so, the Mayor and the Assembly believe this could save lives and prevent further violence against victims and their children. The outcome of this research could be used to lobby the Government for a change in legislation that would enable a Domestic Abusers Register to be established.”
Notes to editors
- A 2009 report by the then Association of Chief Police Officers Commissioners (now NPCC) found that if 357 cases of domestic violence were prevented then the costs of the register would have been saved across the criminal justice system over a 3-year period .
- Len Duvall AM is available for interview – see contact details below.
- In September 2017, Assembly Members supported a unanimous motion to seek legislative change to allow for the establishment of a register of domestic abuse offenders. The Assembly recommends that the system could work in the same way as the sex offenders’ register, allowing police to hold information on perpetrators in order to better protect survivors.
- All 73 London MPs received a cross party letter from the London Assembly to enlist their support for a Domestic Abusers Register.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
For media enquiries, please contact Alison Bell on 020 7983 4228. For out of hours media enquiries, call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the London Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.