Women’s Aid responds: police perpetrators of abuse

Responding to the news that the Metropolitan police is investigating more than 600 domestic and sexual abuse allegations against its officers, Sarah Davidge, head of research and evaluation at Women’s Aid, said:

“All survivors face barriers to accessing justice, and we know that on average the police receive an emergency call relating to domestic abuse every 30 seconds. But when a woman’s perpetrator is part of the system which is meant to protect them, it can be almost impossible for her to seek help.

“We know that thousands of officers are doing their best with the resources they have, but mandatory training must be delivered by domestic abuse specialists across all levels of the police. All police forces must challenge and root out any deep-seated inequalities and sexist attitudes that exist within their organisations- and indeed throughout society- which we know normalise violence against women and girls.

“To strengthen women’s confidence in the police, we need to see a step change within the force with robust responses to police perpetrators of domestic abuse. Survivors must be shown that they’ll be supported when coming forward.”