PCC John Campion and partners have welcomed Redditch MP Rachel Maclean to West Mercia to highlight Drive, an intervention that is tackling domestic abuse at the root cause.
Drive works to change the narrative in domestic abuse so instead of asking of the victim ‘why did you stay?’, the onus is placed on the perpetrator and the question asked is ‘why didn’t you stop?’. The programme launched in Worcestershire in 2018 and, as part of the Home Office Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Fund, it was extended to Herefordshire in 2020. The PCC announced earlier this year that he is re-commissioning the project in Worcestershire, which is delivered by Cranstoun, until 2025.
Rachel Maclean MP’s visit is part of the Government’s focus on tackling violence against women and girls, the national Safer Streets fund (of which Worcestershire and Telford & Wrekin are benefiting from) and the upcoming Domestic Abuse Plan.
The Home Office has recently launched a new, multi-year, national campaign which says ‘Enough’ to violence against women and girls. Delivering on a key commitment of the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, the first phase of the campaign focuses on perpetrators and tackling abuse.
The campaign includes television adverts, billboards, social media and radio advertising and will highlight different forms of violence against women and girls and the simple acts that anyone can take to challenge perpetrators of abuse. It has been developed with an advisory group comprising over 30 voluntary sector organisations, survivors and academics, including Drive, who have given their expert insight.
Drive has so far opened 339 cases in Worcestershire and 47 in Herefordshire, with a total of 408 victims and 792 children linked to these cases.
PCC John Campion: “Putting victims and survivors first is something I will continue to strive for, which is why having the Drive programme in West Mercia is so important if we’re going to truly tackle domestic abuse. It was a pleasure to host Rachel Maclean MP so she could see the brilliant work that is taking place in order to achieve this.
“I’m grateful for the ongoing support from the Government, as if we’re ever going to reduce the number, and severity, of domestic abuse incidences then we need to target the source and get to the root problem.”
Rachel Maclean MP said: “The safety of everyone in our country, wherever they are, is my priority – but we know that crimes like rape, domestic abuse and stalking disproportionally affect women and girls.
“We have made good progress on the commitments in our Tackling Violence Against women and girls strategy, and programmes like Drive are so crucial to being part of the solution, helping to target those highest harm perpetrators of domestic abuse.”