Victim or offender: Is there an overlap?
Nicola Taylor Brown
For some victims of Domestic Abuse (DA) their first experience with the Criminal Justice System (CJS) (Police, Courts, Prisons and Probation) is terrifying. As they launch into a world that they have never experienced before, it becomes one that they may soon become accustomed to.
Women who experience physical or sexual abuse (sometimes both) at the hands of their abuser, encounter fear and distress and sometimes feel unable to report what they have experienced. They live in a constant and heightened state of fear of their abuser and cannot share their experiences with statutory agencies (Police, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and NHS). The shame, the fear of reprisal, the lack of information on their own rights as well as a lack of confidence (and fear of the legal system) aid in their reluctance to report any incidents.
Six out of ten women in custody and supervised in the community have experienced or are currently experiencing DA. It is therefore crucial that professionals working within the CJS such as the Police, CPS, Magistrates and even Probation Officers (assigned the role of writing pre-sentence reports) should be able to identify these women and spot the signs of those who have been victims.
The underlying nature of women’s offending can be deep-rooted in trauma and destitution. This trauma, often experienced throughout their lives, makes them amongst the most vulnerable members of society. The complexity of their needs can include substance misuse, mental health problems and homelessness. Women who find themselves involved in the CJS, have a broad range of complex problems some of which begin long before they have any interactions with the CJS.
Some women who have experienced DA have previously led chaotic lifestyles throughout their childhood and adulthood. When arrested, these women are currently not routinely asked about their experiences of DA. Before sentencing, there should therefore be mutual understanding amongst all of those involved in the case, and joint working to identify any links between DA experienced and the offence that has been committed. This would then give a better idea of whether the woman should be charged, and if they are, how they should be sentenced.
It is necessary to address the trail of issues that lead to offending and re-offending patterns. This should be tackled directly by CJS professionals and sentencers. It is vital that these issues are identified by agencies and that solutions are formulated. Improving access to women’s centres and multi-agency collaborations are one way of moving forward. If the statutory agencies that come into contact with the females who are exhibiting offending behaviour cannot identify the underlying issues, they are intensified when women are placed in prisons without the root causes being addressed. Female prisoners are then released after short sentences without their underlying issues being addressed and then the cycle continues.
The training that is currently being provided to police and magistrates should be nationwide; it should be implemented by using specialist support workers who could assist in supporting these victims of DA so that they feel comfortable and confident to discuss their experiences with CJS professionals upon arrest in the first instance. If this is achieved and received well, the essence of female offending behaviour could be recognised, discussed and an alternative to custody suggested.
My PhD will critically evaluate the training needs of CJS Professionals and seek to understand the unmet needs of women who come in to contact with the CJS. To do this, it is necessary that I establish the role that the voluntary, charitable and community sectors play in supporting women to avoid prison. I want to create an information resource, develop and trial a training package for CJS professionals that will aid them in identifying and responding appropriately to those women that they come across who are also victims of DA.
There are toolkits, training provided and guidelines readily available for the CPS, Police and Magistrates about DA and how it affects the victims, what happens next, and how they should be charged and sentenced but this is mainly geared towards how to deal with the abuser. There is not a consistent and comprehensive solution to discuss how a female victim of DA is dealt with when she is arrested by the police for committing an offence. There is no universal understanding that many of these women have previously experienced DA (including coercion, and financial abuse) which could sometimes be identified in the essence of their offending behaviour.
The Government have recently published a Draft Domestic Abuse Bill which makes reference to developing a pilot training programme for social workers on coercive control so that they can effectively identify and respond to all types of domestic abuse. This offers hope that there is some scope and understanding to introduce the same for professionals within the CJS.
Women adapt to their society and their environment. Female victims of DA are vulnerable; this does not change when these same women get in to trouble with the law.
Nicola Taylor Brown is a PhD student at the Institute for Community Research and Development (ICRD), University of Wolverhampton. Her research focus is on is understanding and assessing the needs of female victims of domestic abuse who themselves commit crime.
