Research undertaken in 2006 has also identified that in 51% of rape and serious sexual assault cases the offender is a current partner, thus highlighting the number of domestic violence cases which include this very serious crime.
In 2005 the Government published it's first National Delivery Plan which identified five key outcomes and seven work objectives to be pursued in 2005-06. A progress report was published in June 2006 and the plan objectives were redefined.
Since 2003 the East of England has received funding to support areas in the region with domestic violence initiatives. These have been ranged from pump priming Domestic Violence Coordinator and Independant Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) posts, an inter-agency training pack in Suffolk, strategy development and domestic violence leaflets in foreign languages not provided by Home Office centrally. A number of domestic violence regional confereneces have been held including on the impact on children, drug and alcohol misuse and risk assessment.
Since the publication of the National Plan the region's domestic violence funding has focussed on initiatives which contribute to the achievement of the Plan's objectives. This has included funding Coordinated Action Against Violence (CAADA) training on Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARAC's) CAADA accredited training for IDVA's, training and materials for working with children and their non-abusing parent, support for MARAC administration, and camera equipment for the police to improve evidence gathering.
As of April 2007 there are four Home Office/HMCS approved Specialist Domestic Violence Courts (SDVC) in the region: Peterborough, Norwich, Ipswich and Thurrock. A further selection of areas to become SDVC's in 2008 will be undertaken during autumn 2007.
For the National Plan, evaluations, research and reports, practitioner toolkits, national helpline numbers, and useful websites please go to the Home Office domestic violence website. The link for this can be found at the bottom of the page.
