As the leading specialist mental health service for women affected by domestic abuse, Woman’s Trust welcomes yesterday’s report from the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, but to ensure justice for survivors we also need to address the mental health impacts of domestic abuse and the criminal justice system.
Police often don’t have the expertise, or the time, to support survivors’ mental health during their investigations or while a case goes through court.
Survivors tell us they feel unable to go through the process due to the overwhelming impact it has on their mental health, including re-traumatisation.
Women feel let down and some, like Kiena Dawes, sadly end their own lives due to the mental health impact of domestic abuse and the justice system.
Police and the courts need to work in partnership with specialist mental health services to provide this much-needed support across the whole system.
More women will then feel able to report domestic abuse and continue with their cases to court and beyond – holding perpetrators to account and helping to save women’s lives.
Read the DAC report: Shifting the Scales: Transforming the criminal justice response to domestic abuse
