A new service has been launched to identify and stop threatening calls and letters from imprisoned domestic abusers. It is aimed at providing a speedier response to harassment from behind bars.
Dedicated case handlers will use intelligence to identify offenders before blocking contact. It will also prevent abusers from using other inmates to torment their victims by barring victims’ contact details from all prison phones.
The new Unwanted Prisoner Contact Service, trialled at Kent and Thames Valley earlier this year, means survivors do not have to ask for help themselves. Requests to block contact can also be made on behalf of a victim with their consent, or by police, probation, victim services, friends or family members.
Minister for Prisons and Probation, Damian Hinds, said: "We will never tolerate domestic abusers who seek to continue their campaign of abuse from behind bars and will always take tough action against the prisoners responsible. This new service delivers on our commitments in the national Domestic Abuse Plan and will better protect victims once their cowardly abusers are jailed."
Diana Fawcett, chief executive of Victim Support, said: "Unwanted contact from offenders is frightening and stressful. It can stop victims from moving on with their lives and, particularly in cases of domestic abuse, is often used to intimidate victims and continue campaigns of abuse. We welcome steps to make it easier and quicker to take action and hope that this will make a real difference for victims."
The move delivers on the cross-government Domestic Abuse Plan which sets out investment of £140 million to support victims and £81 million to tackle perpetrators. The government also continues to implement the Domestic Abuse Act which recognises all forms of abuse beyond physical violence.
It introduces new offences for non-fatal strangulation and so-called revenge porn. And prevents abusers from being able to directly cross examine their victims in family and civil courts.
