In your report (Government not learning lessons from deaths of domestic abuse victims, report finds, 15 July), the domestic abuse commissioner rightly calls for the government’s strategy on violence against women and girls to “link more closely to the NHS plan”. We agree and would go further – the approach to violence against women must be joined up across all relevant government departments, agencies and public services.
As barristers, we see violence against women and girls, coercive/controlling behaviour and domestic abuse daily – not only in the criminal courts, which you would expect, but also in our family courts, where it’s estimated by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service and Women’s Aid Federation that domestic abuse allegations are present in more than 60% of private law children cases.
To take a narrow view of violence against women and girls by looking only through the lens of the criminal justice system would miss countless opportunities to prevent harm. As the government finalises its strategy over the summer, we urge ministers to take a broad and joined-up approach.
Barbara Mills
Chair, the Bar Council
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