The Government’s pilot scheme has been praised as a “positive step forward in protecting victims” as domestic abusers who are leaving prison will have to wear electronic monitoring tags. The Guardian reports that the scheme is being launched across the East and West Midlands and is expected next year to be rolled out across England and Wales.
What is the pilot scheme?
Under the pilot scheme, any offender who poses a threat to a previous partner or their children will be prohibited from being able to be in a certain distance from the victim’s home and or subject to a curfew.
These conditions will be enforced on up to 500 prison leavers, who will be made to wear a GPS or curfew tag. If those offenders breach their licence conditions, then they face being brought back to prison, this could be for entering an exclusion zone or breaching a curfew.
Alex Chalk, the lord chancellor and justice secretary, said:
“Survivors of domestic abuse show great strength and bravery in coming forward, and it is right that every tool is used to protect them from further harm.
The tagging of prison leavers at risk of committing further domestic abuse is a further protection we are introducing to help victims rebuild their lives and feel safe in their communities.”
The Government has also announced that over 2,700 victims had been protected thanks to a Prison Service scheme relaunched last summer that protected victims from additional harassment from their jailed abusers.
The domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, Nicole Jacobs, said:
“I welcome announcements from government today to tackle perpetrators of domestic abuse. The domestic abuse electronic tags pilot is a positive step forwards in protecting victims.
By blocking perpetrators from contacting victims, the unwanted prisoner contact scheme sets an important standard that the criminal justice system will not be used to further domestic abuse, making a difference for survivor’s safety, recovery and freedom from abuse.
For too long, the onus has been on victims of domestic abuse to protect themselves from harm. I will continue to work with the government.”
Comment
It is good to see the Government taking a form of action to help protect victims from domestic abuse. There has also been progress in a recent Bill which received Royal Assent to ensure victims of domestic abuse can still receive child maintenance without having to have any communication from their abuser, see our previous blog here.
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