Domestic abuse

Stop Hate in Norfolk (SHiN)

Norfolk Constabulary, Norfolk County Council and partners launched the Stop Hate in Norfolk Protocol in 2017. It aims to create a common standard for tackling hate incidents/ crime across Norfolk. It sets out how different Norfolk organisations – public, private, voluntary or community – will work together to make it easier for residents to report hate incidents and crime in a supported and safe way through local groups and organisations using the SHiN logo.

Any Norfolk organisation can adopt the Protocol. Information on how to do so can be found here:

www.norfolk.police.uk/stop-hate

Often, victims or witnesses of hate incidents lack confidence to report hate incidents to the police, or they may think it is unimportant. Some people – particularly people with care and support needs – do not recognise that they have been a victim. A free eLearning course is available on the Stop Hate in Norfolk webpage for anyone to find out more about hate incidents/crimes, how to identify if you have been a victim and how to report an incident you have witnessed.

Staff and volunteers at several services and organisations are trained to take hate incident reports, like libraries. Some community groups and disability services in Norfolk are trained to take reports on behalf of victims or witnesses – look out for the SHiN logo in their window.

You should always report a hate incident, even if you don’t think it’s serious, or if you have no information about the perpetrator, as every report helps the police to build area intelligence profiles, and to intervene in situations where a perpetrator is committing seemingly ‘minor’ offences.

For more information or to report a hate incident, visit: www.norfolk.police.uk/stop-hate

Domestic abuse is everyone’s business. It can affect anyone, regardless of age, social group, class, race, disability or sexuality. Domestic abuse can affect both men and women, and it can occur in any relationship – heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, young or old. Older people can be victims of domestic abuse, but this may not always be picked up on.

One in four women and one in six men will experience domestic abuse during their lifetime.

What is domestic abuse?

It means any threats, violence, controlling or coercive behaviour that takes place between family members or people aged over 16 who are in a relationship with each other (or have been in the past).

Family members are defined as mother, father, sister, brother and grandparents, whether directly related, in-laws or stepfamily. However, this is not an exhaustive list and may also be extended to uncles, aunts and cousins etc. Domestic abuse is a pattern of behaviour used by abusers designed to establish and maintain power and control over another person.

It is not always physical violence and can take different forms. This includes but is not limited to the following types of abuse:

• Emotional abuse – persistently putting you down, isolating you from friends and family, name calling, sulking and checking up on you.

• Psychological abuse – verbal abuse, blaming, mind games, criticisms, accusations, emotional abuse, jealous and obsessive behaviour, humiliation, comparisons, manipulation, complete control of a person’s life, threats to kill the person or the children, imposed social isolation and sleep deprivation.

• Sexual abuse – forcing you to have sex against your will, sexual assault, forced prostitution, degradation, humiliation, being forced to watch or act in pornography. 

 • Financial and economic abuse – preventing a person from getting or keeping a job, taking money, not permitting access to or withholding family income. It may also include behaviours that control a person’s ability to use and maintain economic resources. This may include money, food, transport and housing.

• Physical abuse – assault, punches, kicks, hitting, forced imprisonment, biting, strangulation, burning, dragging, actual bodily harm, grievous bodily harm, using weapons and throwing objects.

This includes so-called honour-based abuse, female genital mutilation and forced marriage.

Is domestic abuse a crime?

There is no single criminal offence of ‘domestic abuse’, but many forms of domestic abuse are crimes, such as harassment, assault, criminal damage, attempted murder, rape and keeping you locked up in the house. Being assaulted, sexually abused, threatened or harassed by a partner or family member is a crime just as it would be if committed by a stranger.

A domestic violence law came into effect in 2015, which recognises that abuse is often a complex and sustained pattern of behaviour intended to create fear. The coercive or controlling behaviour offence, which carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment and a fine, can be invoked if, on at least two occasions, a victim suffers serious alarm or distress that impacts on their day-today activities, or they are frightened of physical violence. Visit: www.gov.uk and search ‘controlling or coercive behaviour’ to access guidance and further information.

The Domestic Abuse Bill 2020 is helping to transform the response to domestic abuse, helping to prevent offending, protect victims and ensure they have the support they need. This is a landmark bill which marks a fundamental change by:

• Raising awareness and understanding about the devastating impact of domestic abuse on victims and their families.

• Improving the justice system’s effectiveness in providing protection for victims of domestic abuse and bringing perpetrators to justice.

Am I in an abusive relationship?

It’s not always easy to know if you’re being abused. Abusers may try to persuade you that what they’re doing is normal, is a sign of love or that they’re sorry. Here are some possible signs: • You are scared of them.

• They have hurt, or threatened to hurt, you or people you care about. • They force you to do things you don’t want to do, including sexually. • They stop you from seeing your friends, family or people who you may go to for advice such as a

GP or social worker.

• They have threatened to take your children away or hurt them.

• They prevent you from continuing or starting school, college or from going to work. • They constantly check up on you or follow you – they may also track you via your mobile phone. • They wrongly accuse you of flirting or of having affairs on a regular basis.

• They get extremely jealous and possessive.

• They humiliate you or criticise or insult you, often in front of other people.

• You change your behaviour because you’re afraid of what they might do or say to you.

• They deliberately destroy things that belong to you.

• They control how much money you have. • They blame you for the abuse.

• They control your daily routine.

If you’re unsure whether something that has happened to you is abuse, it can help to imagine would you be worried if it happened to a friend or a close relative?

The domestic abuse disclosure scheme (or ‘Clare’s Law’) allows you to find out if your partner has a history of abusive behaviour towards previous partners.