West Sussex: 'Significant Increase' In Domestic Abuse Cases

There has been a ‘siginificant increase’ in the number of people referred to domestic abuse services in West Sussex, councillors have been told.

During a scrutiny committee meeting at County Hall, Chichester, they were given a presentation from various members of the Safer West Sussex Partnership, who detailed the demand for domestic abuse services and the work being carried out to help.

Nationally, around 2.4 million people per year – the vast majority of whom are women – fall victim to domestic abuse.

Duncan Crow, cabinet member for community support, fire & rescue, described the figures as ‘quite simply appalling’, adding:

“It’s shameful and nobody accepts at all that this is right.”

Locally, the council’s high-risk domestic abuse service, known as WORTH, is currently working with 697 people, more than half of whom have children.

More than 750 of those youngsters are on child protection plans.

The Safer West Sussex Partnership is made up of groups such as the district, borough and county councils, police and health services and voluntary groups. 

A report presented to the committee said that the area’s voluntary, charity and community groups had all reported that they were over capacity for clients at medium risk of abuse.

The My Sister’s House women’s centre, in Bognor Regis, reported that it had offered its services to just under 1,000 women so far this year, with three-quarters of them needing domestic abuse support.

Some 363 women made use of the Safe in Sussex Freedom Programme between April 2020 and March 2021, and the West Sussex Connect service has worked with 452 adults and 235 children since it was launched in 2018.

Mr Crow praised the work which had been carried out so far, adding:

“The need for this work is not going to go away, sadly.

“We need to try to address it where we can, encourage people to come forward and hope that there’s no one who [does not] feel that they can come forward if they have issues in this area of concern or does not know how to.”

In an effort to make sure word of the services reaches as many people as possible, the council has translated details of its WORTH domestic abuse services into 20 languages, including Urdu, Mandarin, Polish and Russian.

They can all be found via www.westsussex.gov.uk

Faye Mills May, community safety lead for domestic and sexual violence & abuse, said:

“We’re committed to improving our service offer for hidden victims and the most vulnerable people in our communities.

“We know that some people find it harder to access services and face additional marginalisation.

“We recognise and understand intersecting disadvantage and vulnerability – race, sexuality, gender, gender identity, age and disability.

“We’re committed to ensuring all victims in Sussex have access to services that are right for them and meet their needs when they need it.”

Mr Crow also spoke highly of the Safe Space Sussex website, which can be found at www.safespacesussex.org.uk

The site was developed by the Police & Crime Commissioner and provides an online directory of local victim and witness specialist support services.

It also provides information about different types of crime and what happens at each stage of the criminal justice system – helping to ‘demystify’ the process for people when they may be at their most vulnerable.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021, which came into effect in April, requires all local authorities to publish a strategy setting out how they will protect and assist survivors of domestic abuse in safe accommodation.

A draft strategy covering West Sussex, East Sussex and Brighton & Hove has been developed and put out to consultation.

The consultation closes on December 19. To take part, log on to yourvoice.westsussex.gov.uk