The issue of violence against women and girls is unfortunately a prevailing one with a domestic-abuse related call being made to the police every 30 seconds, and various examples of women and girls who have been failed by frontline services.

As part of its aim to halve violence against women and girls, the government’s pilot scheme known as ‘Raneem’s Law’, currently in place in the West Midlands, Northumbria, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Humberside forces is therefore significant. The pilot scheme was introduced specifically following the tragic murder of Raneem Oudeh, aged 22, who, in 2018 was murdered alongside her mother Khaola Saleem by Ms Oudeh’s ex-partner Janbaz Tarin. This was despite numerous reports and calls to the police about the women’s safety, which were left unanswered or addressed insufficiently.

The pilot scheme aims to allow a more robust approach to be taken by the police following reports of domestic abuse by integrating domestic abuse specialists within the 999 control rooms. The domestic abuse specialists are largely from women’s aid charities, tasked with reviewing domestic abuse calls and providing direct advice to officers responding to incidents on the ground. Training sessions on domestic abuse are also facilitated for force control room staff, with referrals to specialist support services being made in each case, as necessary and the specialists reviewing 999 calls to identifying any missed safeguarding opportunities, amongst other measures.

The pilot scheme is a welcome development in attempting to elevate the best interests of domestic abuse victims as much as possible, as early as possible, and in bolstering support for victims. In my line of work, most private children cases unfortunately do involve primarily women being subjected to continuous control and abuse by their ex-partner even after separation, mainly through the medium of hostile correspondence and sometimes the issuing of court proceedings. At times, the lack of any or any sufficient response by the police to their reports of domestic violence can be used to undermine their case, worsening an already difficult situation for them.  By having specialist domestic abuse support available at the outset, the pilot scheme should not only help instill confidence in the police’s protective role, but it should also help make women feel empowered, as a more robust approach would in effect validate their experiences and crucially help put their safety and well-being first. While time will tell of the scheme’s effectiveness, that can only be a good thing and the realisation of the intention to roll out the scheme to all 43 police forces in England and Wales seems ideal.

Zarqa Farouq is a Paralegal in the Family team, specialising in divorce, finance and Children cases. For a simple and sympathetic no-obligation initial discussion on family matters in English or Urdu, Zarqa can be contacted on 0800 8 60 62 65.

Zarqa Farouq – Paralegal