‘We recognise this is a national emergency. It’s not just one part of society and it’s not just for victims to protect themselves. We need to hold men and boys accountable for their behaviour’
A Welsh MP has praised a new “life-saving” clamp down on domestic abuse that is being rolled out in one part of Wales, amid an ongoing epidemic of violence against women. From today (Monday, April 28) greater protections will become available in north Wales to protect victims and survivors from their abusers.
Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs) will become available to people in the area, which aim to build on existing police powers associated with Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs). DAPOs allow victims – as well as their friends, families or support workers – to apply for these orders in the family court at Caernarfon, Prestatyn or Wrexham.
Police can also apply on their behalf in the magistrates’ court for protection, so that victims do not need to attend in person.
DAPOs can force perpetrators to stick to strict exclusion zones wearing GPS tags, as well as forcing them to complete rehabilitation or behavioural courses.
Unlike current schemes, these orders cover all types of domestic abuse – including physical, controlling, or coercive behaviour, economic abuse and stalking – and can be issued by all courts.
There will also be no maximum duration for these orders, compared to the 28-days current protection orders offer.
In the year to March 2024, North Wales Police granted 462 Domestic Violence Protection Notices and made more than 350 applications under Clare’s Law to help protect victims of domestic abuse.
Monday marks the second expansion after DAPO pilots were previously launched in Greater Manchester, three London boroughs (Croydon, Bromley and Sutton) and with the British Transport Police in November 2024.
The orders were then rolled out across Cleveland in March, prior to north Wales.
Between November 27 and March 31, more than 100 DAPOs have been secured in Greater Manchester alone, with the police dealing with 45 breaches and jail time handed down to some of those who breached the order.
On Monday WalesOnline spoke to Alex Davies-Jones, Member of Parliament for Pontypridd and Minister for Victims and Violence Against Women and Girls.
We discussed how DAPOs will help victims, how current legislation is falling short, what is being done to tackle male violence against women, and when we can expect DAPOs to be rolled out across Wales.
Below is our Q&A with Ms Davies-Jones.
How have DAPOs improved the lives of victims in the pilots?
Ms Davies-Jones said: “I think it’s fair to say DAPOs are saving lives right now. I’m really happy to be bringing them to my home country Wales.
“Since they launched in Greater Manchester last November, more than 100 have been issued. It goes to show the strength of support we are getting from police, from victims, from the courts and third parties.”
What benefits or changes do DAPOs bring for victims?
Ms Davies-Jones said DAPOS are “novel” in the way that they aim to protect victims.
She explained: “It takes an immense amount of courage and strength for any victim to come forward and report abuse, but what is special and unique about the DAPOs is that they can be applied for directly by the victims themselves, by the police or by a third party.
“So if someone recognises abuse happening and the victim themselves doesn’t feel able to come forward, which we sadly do know is the case, then a third party can apply on their behalf. That makes them very special.”
“But the fact that third parties can apply for DAPOs isn’t the only new feature.
“There’s no time limit on these, which is unlike the DVPOs. One of the criticisms of DVPOs is that they are quite short and therefore limited in the protection that they offer, whereas DAPOs don’t have that limitation.
“They have positive requirements attached to them meaning perpetrators can be sent to do mental health courses, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, behavioural change programmes.”
What triggered the initial DAPO pilot? Is it because current legislation in place to protect victims isn’t fit for purpose?
She said: “I think we have listened to victims and what they have told us about the existing orders and protections that are in place and they weren’t quite hitting the mark.
“Therefore we needed to go back to the drawing board, working with the relevant agencies, working with the courts, the police, local authorities and social services to really identify what is the gap.
“Why is it that these existing orders aren’t quite working? That they aren’t protecting victims, and they aren’t stopping the behaviour. That’s why we are creating the DAPOs and why we are really taking out time to get this right.
“For far too long policy has been created here in Westminster and rolled out either too quickly or without too much thought about how it’s going to operate in the real world.
“As we have seen from the pilot schemes, [DAPOs] are working and saving lives.”
What is being done to improve the actions of men towards women, as well as how some men view women in the UK?
WalesOnline listed a number of deeply disturbing incidents of violence against women and girls that have made headlines recently.
Around the UK this includes the murders of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe in Southport last July; the murders of Carol, Hannah, and Louise Hunt at their home in Hertfordshire last July as well as the murder of Amie Gray and attempted murder of Leanne Miles in Bournemouth last May.
In Wales examples include the murder of Victoria Thomas in Cardiff in August last year and the murder of Sophie Evans in Llanelli in July last year.
WalesOnline also raised how the Netflix show Adolescence further reflected the current epidemic of violence against women. We asked the minister what else is being done to protect women and girls from violence.
She said: “You mentioned a number of serious incidents that have happened, and we also have them in my own constituency of Pontypridd in the last few months.
“It is everywhere and it is endemic across society which is why we have taken the action we have in order to address this.
“We recognise this is a national emergency. It’s not just one part of society and it’s not just for victims to protect themselves.
“We need to hold men and boys accountable for their behaviour. It is not just a Ministry of Justice or a Home Office to fix, which is why Jess Phillips and I are co-chairing [a] cross government board looking at every single government department: Education, looking at what is happening on the internet, working with the treasury to tackle economic abuse, working with health and social care so we give medical professionals the tools to spot abuse
“We know the vast majority of disclosures happen when a victim tells the GP or a nurse in that setting. We are looking at how we join up that system so we can make every piece of the pie work together.
“We will be publishing our strategy later this year – working with the Welsh Government as well – to really get to the crux of it, to make sure that what we are saying, and the legislation we are creating, is backed up by policy that is going to work in the real world to keep women and girls safe.”
Is there anything in the pipeline to improve, update or replace restraining orders for domestic abuse victims?
WalesOnline recently spoke to domestic abuse victim Mel Cook whose former husband David Myer physically attacked her before he went on to breach his restraining order a number of times in the subsequent years.
Mel alleged there were additional occasions when Myer flouted the terms of his order, which she reported. However, there was “back and forth” with police over whether the instances were classed as breaches. A spokesman for South Wales Police told us that Myer “was arrested each time the order was breached and put before the court”.
Following his most recent breach – which happened within 24 hours of a prior court hearing – Myer found himself at Cardiff magistrates’ Court in March this year. During the hearing no mention was made of the initial violent attack, and Mel’s victim impact statement was not read out to the court. You can read the full story here.
We put Mel’s story to the minister and asked her whether anything is being done to improve, update or replace restraining orders to better protect victims.
She said: “First of all, I’m so sorry to hear what that victim has been through. Sadly it is not unique which is why we are taking the action we are taking.
“…I think you are right to point out that some of the previous orders aren’t working correctly and as you would hope, which is why we have launched the DAPOs.
“It is why we are taking our time to get these right. We are learning from the pilot areas to make sure we iron out any issues like you have identified with some of the other orders.”
She said a “holistic approach” is being adopted in the hope that victims will be better protected.
She said: “Jess Phillips the safeguarding minister and I co-chair this cross government strategy and board. What we are doing is publishing our strategy looking at violence towards women and girls, looking at what is working and what is not working, what needs to take place to really try and crack down on all of the harm that is being done to women and girls because it is at an untenable level.
“We’ve declared a national emergency in order to really make a difference and half it over the course of a decade.”
Following this, how will you ensure DAPOs are not open to interpretation at different levels of the justice system?
Ms Davies-Jones said: “What makes these orders so special is that where they are being issued, we are seeing any breaches being clamped down on really hard and the perpetrators are being sent to prison. They are being taken seriously.
“We are working across jurisdictionally, not just with the family courts and the criminal courts, but also the police and the social services.
“It’s about everybody working together in a joined up approach. This is exactly what we want because domestic abuse isn’t just isolated to the victim to deal with or isolated to the home. This is everybody’s role to try and prevent.
“We have recognised that as a government and is why we have taken the stance we have in terms of a commitment to halving violence against women and girls over the course of a decade.”
When will DAPOs be rolled out to other parts of Wales?
Ms Davies-Jones said: “I want to see this rolled out everywhere as quickly as possible but I want to make sure we get this right.
“There are a number of working parts that make the DAPOs so effective: Having the positive requirement availability, having providers ready to provide those [courses] and making sure we have perpertraters able to access them.
“The goal is to get them everywhere. I want everywhere covered by these but we need to make sure we do it safely first and foremost and that they are going to work and be effective.”
If you, a family member, a friend, or someone you are concerned about has experienced domestic abuse or sexual violence you can contact the Live Fear Free Helpline 24 hours a day seven days a week for free advice and support or to talk through your options: 0808 801 08 00.
