The Ministry of Justice has today announced a new scheme to tag hundreds of prison leavers at risk of abusing partners. The government has also announced that over 2,700 victims have been protected from further harassment from their imprisoned abusers thanks to a Prison Service scheme launched last summer.
Responding to the announcement, Nicole Jacobs, the Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales says, “I welcome announcements from government today to tackle perpetrators of domestic abuse. The domestic abuse electronic tags pilot is a positive step forwards in protecting victims.
“By blocking perpetrators from contacting victims, the Unwanted Prisoner Contact scheme sets an important standard that the criminal justice system will not be used to further domestic abuse, making a difference for survivor’s safety, recovery, and freedom from abuse.
“For too long, the onus has been on victims of domestic abuse to protect themselves from harm. I will continue to work with government to ensure a whole suite of measures is in place to protect victims and prevent domestic abuse, including improving probation practice and the use of evidence-based perpetrator interventions.”