Media coverage of Wiltshire Police’s response under Clare’s Law and the inquest into the domestic murder of Terri Harris, alongside her two children and their friend, has put Clare’s Law back under the spotlight. Clare’s Law (more formally known as the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme) allows the police to disclose the criminal records of those
Our project on Clare’s Law, funded by the British Academy, included talking to women about their experiences of this scheme, how information was shared with them (if there was any), what they thought of the process, and what they did and did not do as a result. The findings, published in The Journal of Gender
This was the headline of an article published in The Observer on Sunday May 9th. It reports that a quarter of police forces fail to disclose information under Clare’s Law/ The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS), within the recommended 35 days. It expresses the view that bringing this initiative under statutory regulation will require police
It’s one week after International Women’s Day and here we are debating, again, how it is that women’s safety is their own problem. Yet another woman has died at the hands of a man for having the temerity to think she could do what many men take for granted: to walk home alone in the
International Women’s Day 2021 comes amid a global pandemic and, what the United Nations (UN) has termed, a ‘Shadow Pandemic’ of violence against women. The gendered consequences of COVID-19 have been felt in all aspects of women’s lives and this has exacerbated pre-existing inequalities. According to the UN, women have been hardest hit by the
On International Women’s Day (8th March) 2014, Clare’s Law was rolled out nationally across England and Wales following a pilot project the previous year. At this time, I was working on an innovative multi-agency domestic abuse team which was located within children’s services. My main role was to deliver domestic abuse awareness group work to
Over the last thirty years it has become increasingly popular to name laws after a victim. This is often based on the presumption that it was the absence of such a law that contributed to their demise; if the law had been in place they would not have been victimized. Using victim’s names in this
Today marks the first day of the National Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness week. Sexual abuse and sexual violence can affect anyone; children and adults; including men and women. Children and young people (both male and female) may be vulnerable to abuse in the home by family or extended family members. They may also
Hello, My name is Charlotte and I am the Principle Investigator for the Clare’s Law experiences project. I am really excited to get started on this research, which finally offers opportunity to consult women about their experiences of using domestic violence disclosure schemes (DVDS). I have researched violence towards women and the effects of laws
