Supporting victims
Victims Pledge
The services we provide will:
- Be easy to access
- Inform you of your entitlements under the Victims Code
- Be Supportive and of high quality
- Focused on your needs and requirements
- Be delivered in a manner of your choosing and when you need it
- Enable you to feel and stay safe
- Provided free of charge
Domestic Abuse
The County Community Safety Unit, with funding from Hertfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, commissioned the independent charity CAADA (Co-ordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse) to thoroughly review how services in Hertfordshire could be improved.
At a joint meeting of Hertfordshire’s Domestic Abuse Strategic Programme Board and the County Community Safety Governance Board on 1 December, it was agreed to establish a cross-organisational working group to take forward the development of a clear Domestic Abuse Strategy and associated action plan.
The working group will include representatives from the Hertfordshire Constabulary, Hertfordshire County Council, NHS agencies, and probation. Additional strategic resource has already been put in place to oversee this work and arrangements for the provision of specialist resources are also being explored with CAADA.
Hate Crime
Police and Crime Commissioner David Lloyd has welcomed key recommendations for supporting victims of hate crime in light of findings from a pioneering new piece of research in Hertfordshire.
The Commissioner funded report: ‘Healing the Harms: Identifying how best to support Hate Crime Victims’ led by the University of Leicester’s Centre for Hate Studies, asked people to share their experiences and thoughts on support services locally and nationally.
The findings and recommendations will now be used to improve support services for hate crime victims in Hertfordshire via Victim Care Centre Beacon and to develop the next hate crime strategy for the county.
Between January and April in 2016, more than 1600 people shared their personal insights on hate crime through a survey and in-depth interviews. Over one third (36 per cent) of the sample had experienced a hate crime, with many participants citing race as the cause.
Interestingly, this finding mirrors recorded figures from Hertfordshire Constabulary.
In drawing these findings, the report outlines the perceived effectiveness of hate crime policy, the range of hate crimes experienced by people who live in Hertfordshire, and the damaging effects of hate crime on a victim’s emotional and physical wellbeing.
It also examines reporting rates to police, interaction rates with existing support services and the needs and expectations of actual and potential hate crime victims.
Honour Based Abuse, Female Genital Mutilation and Forced Marriage
Police and Crime Commissioner David Lloyd commissioned the University of Roehampton and University of Essex to undertake a pioneering research project between February and March 2017 to understand the experiences of so-called ‘honour’ based violence (HBA-including FGM and forced marriage). So called ‘honour’ based abuse (HBA) will be included in future victims’ services plans and delivered through Hertfordshire’s victim care centre - Beacon.
This specialist support, which will address the specific needs of victims of HBA, Forced Marriage and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) will be brought in next year.
Honour Based Violence and Abuse, Female Genital Mutilation and Forced Marriage: Shaping Services for Priority Victims in Hertfordshire.
The study was based on research conducted by Professor Aisha K. Gill from the University of Roehampton, Professor Pamela Cox and Ruth Weir from University of Essex with consultant input from Professor Sandra Walklate, University of Liverpool.