Society needs to do more to prevent 'epidemic' of domestic violence - West Midland Police boss

Latest figures show West Midlands Police arrest rates in domestic violence cases stand at 40 per cent

West Midlands Police bosses believe society needs to do more to tackle the 'epidemic' of violence against women and girls. Chief Constable Craig Guildford and West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster were quizzed on the issue of domestic abuse and increases in reported sexual offences.

And Mr Guildford said latest figures showed arrest rates for domestic abuse in the West Midlands stood at 40 per cent - one of the highest in the country. He added the rise in the number of reported offences was largely down to raised awareness when previously the crime went under-reported.

At a Police & Crime Panel meeting on Monday (October 7), Coventry councillor Pervez Akhtar said: "Domestic abuse is a massive issue which wrecks lives. We want to prevent domestic abuse rather than deal with consequences. Recently, the National Police Chief's Council has stated that violence against women and girls has reached epidemic levels.

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"There has been a 37 per cent increase in the number of reported sexual offences to West Midlands Police. What are you going to do about that?"

Chief constable Guilford said: "It's not a matter of 'it's exploded' but a matter of 'it's always been there'. But what we've tried to do is to make the public more aware that it is there. We believe as chiefs that domestic violence and sexual violence, violence against women and girls, has always had an element of under-reporting.

"Part of the reason we've been talking much more about it is the subject is one that society needs to address. It's certainly not something the police can arrest their way out of. This is an issue of society and we've got a part to play in it in our prevention and enforcement but it's a problem mainly caused by men against women of various ages.

"Forty per cent arrest data is very significant on domestic violence because it never used to be anything like that. If you look at offences like rape, we've doubled the number of rape prosecutions in the last 18 months.

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"The percentage has increased but it only increased from a low point nationally and there is a project called Operation Soteria, and we're one of the lead forces on that, to be making sure we're doing everything possible to increase that level of prosecution. The second area I want to touch upon is the provision of independent sexual violence advocates and domestic violence advocates. Every where I've worked in policing, it's been a bit of a patchwork quilt.

"If you look at some of the work the violence reduction partnership does and some of the commissioning, we are not in a bad position but we would love to do more. But it has to be a partnership approach."

Mr Foster said he'd undertaken a number of pieces of work to tackle the problem since he was first elected in 2021. This includes appointed a dedicated victims' commissioner, increasing the number of domestic violence and sexual violence advocate to support victims in the criminal justice process, awareness campaigns and having a dedicated website.

He said: "I've always made it clear from the get-go that violence against women and girls and domestic abuse has always been one of my absolute top priorities. We've seen the significant increase in arrest rates particularly with a view to domestic abuse cases. We're seeing better outcomes in these sort of cases."

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