About us - Domestic Abuse Commissioner

The Domestic Abuse Commissioner is an independent voice that speaks on behalf of victims and survivors. The Commissioner uses her statutory powers, which are set out in the Domestic Abuse Act, to raise public awareness and hold both agencies and government to account in tackling domestic abuse.

The Commissioner’s role

The Domestic Abuse Act gives the Domestic Abuse Commissioner specific powers which enable her to fulfil this role, and places legal duties on public sector bodies to cooperate with her and to respond to any recommendations that she makes to them. This enables the Commissioner to drive forward change and hold local agencies and national government to account for their role in responding to domestic abuse.

An estimated 2.1 million adults experienced domestic abuse in the last year. One in five children lives with domestic abuse. These figures are unacceptable, and the Domestic Abuse Commissioner will use her unique powers to fight for change. She campaigns to ensure that domestic abuse services are available for everyone including BAME, LGBTQ+, and disabled survivors across England and Wales.

Team

Meet the Domestic Abuse Commissioner team:

About the Commissioner

Nicole Jacobs was appointed in 2019 as the first Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales. Her powers came into force in 2021, and in 2022 she was reappointed for a further three years. Nicole has dedicated her career to supporting victims and survivors and has nearly 30 years’ experience in domestic abuse services, policy and intervention.

“I am delighted to be the Domestic Abuse Commissioner. I will use my unique statutory powers to champion victims and survivors of all ages, status, and backgrounds, and will shine a light on good practice and practices that fall short to end the postcode lottery of domestic abuse services in England and Wales.”

Policy Team

The policy team ensure that there is a robust and inclusive response to domestic abuse from national government and local decision makers. The work of our team covers a range of different areas of policy including the criminal justice system, family courts, health, housing and specialist domestic abuse services. The breadth of our work reflects the full impact that domestic abuse has on the lives of victims and survivors, and the importance of a wide range of agencies working together to prevent and tackle domestic abuse.

We aim to ensure that government policy making delivers support and justice for all those subject to domestic abuse, including BAME, LGBTQ+, and disabled victims and survivors, who often face some of the greatest barriers to receiving help. We do this by working with a range of stakeholders, including national and local decision makers, those working in specialist domestic abuse services and victims and survivors of domestic abuse. We work closely with our research team to assess the scale and nature of domestic abuse, and with the Practice and Partnerships team to help understand the full impact of government policy in local areas and help test policy recommendations.

Research Team

The research team will ensure that a robust evidence base underpins the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s advice to national government and local decision makers.

An early priority for our team was to map and monitor the provision of domestic abuse services in England and Wales, in order to shine a light on good practice as well as identify where improvements need to be made. This is the first step in addressing the ‘postcode lottery’ faced by domestic abuse victims and survivors. Other research projects are undertaken according to the Commissioner’s policy objectives and regional priorities.

The research team provide the Commissioner and her office with data and research briefings to inform our understanding of the scale and nature of domestic abuse. This includes the collation of data from a wide range of sources, such as the Office for National Statistics, the Crown and Prosecution Service, and frontline services. We also keep a close eye on research undertaken by both academia and sector organisations and ensure this is effectively amplified to policy decision-makers.

An ethical approach is integrated at the heart of all our research projects. This includes working with our sector and survivor advisory groups to develop our research methods and inform our work. Our team abide by Government Social Research ethical principles, and also apply the domestic abuse specific ‘Research Integrity Framework’, produced by Women’s Aid.

Details of our latest research projects, and the ethical guidance we follow, are available on our research page.

Practice and Partnerships Team

The Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s Practice and Partnerships team aims to ensure that the work of the Office is informed by local and regional practice and is also as accessible as possible to a diverse range of people and organisations with experience of, or an interest in, domestic abuse (including domestic abuse leads, commissioners, and professionals). We work to reduce the disconnect between the local/regional and the national picture, with information flowing both ways through the Practice and Partnerships team.

The Practice and Partnerships team is the face, eyes, and ears of the Office. The team engages with a range of stakeholders to:

> Build partnerships, develops networks and seeks to understand trends and themes (including challenges and concerns, as well as good practice and innovation) at the local and regional level
> Feed local and regional experiences, expertise, and insights into national policy-making and escalating concerns (not individual cases) to the national level where appropriate
> Represent the Office and the Commissioner in local and regional contexts, as relevant
> Ensure that national developments are communicated to local and regional partners in a timely and consistent manner

The Practice and Partnerships team consists of Geographic Leads embedded locally across England and Wales, and a Team Leader with national oversight. The Domestic Homicide Oversight Mechanism (DHOM) Lead also sits within this team, with a dotted line to the Policy team, reflecting the local and national oversight role that the Office will have as set out in the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan. Find out more about our partnership work here.

To contact the Practice and Partnerships team, including your Geographical Lead, email us at [email protected]

Strategy

The Domestic Abuse Commissioner is required by the Domestic Abuse Act to develop and publish a Strategic Plan which sets out her strategy for the coming years.

The Domestic Abuse Commissioner worked closely with specialist domestic abuse charities and experts, as well as statutory bodies and public services, to inform her Strategic Plan and ensure the the voices of victims and survivors are right at the heart of our strategy.

Read the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s three year Strategic Plan for September 2022 to September 2025 here.

Annual reports

Read the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s Annual Report 2022-23 below or online here.

DAC-Annual-Report-2023 Download