Domestic abuse (health and wellbeing needs in South Tyneside)

During 2017, Ofsted led a national Joint Targeted Area Inspection (JTAI) of domestic abuse. This sampled prevalence and practice in 6 local authority areas to develop a strong representative picture. The Inspectorates who were engaged in the review were:

• Ofsted (education and children's services)
• HMI Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS)
• HMI Probation (HMIP)
• Care Quality Commission (health services)

This multi-agency inspection assessed the response to domestic abuse across local areas, and across partnership services, including services which respond to crisis, act to protect victims and children, and work with perpetrators. The review concluded:

"...Domestic abuse is a widespread public health issue that needs a long-term strategy to reduce its prevalence.

The volume of activity that domestic abuse creates for agencies is so great that it requires sophisticated systems and well co-ordinated processes.   Whilst agencies have overcome many of the problems associated with the volume of cases, the next step is for them to take a long-term approach towards the prevention and reduction of domestic abuse over time. This is more than a task for agencies individually; it requires a societal change on the conceptualisation of domestic abuse among professionals and between individuals in the public domain.

Accepted practice in tackling social problems is to prevent, protect and repair. Whilst much good work is being done to protect children and victims, far too little is being done to prevent domestic abuse and repair the damage it does." ((The Multi-Agency response to children living with domestic abuse, Ofsted, 19 September 2017))

The review closely reflects the key issues for South Tyneside:

• Domestic abuse affects thousands of lives every year, and absorbs a substantial volume of statutory and third sector resources
• The range of services is limited and predominantly focused on response rather than prevention
• Individually, agencies are not able to impact the prevalence of domestic abuse in the Borough. A well-coordinated multi agency approach is an essential foundation stone for change.

Nationally

According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) year ending March 2020: showed that 5.5% of adults aged 16 to 74 years experienced domestic abuse in the last year in the year ending March 2020.

There was a 7% increase in the total number of domestic abuse-related offences recorded by the police in the year ending December 2020 (839,077 offences) compared with the previous year.

Domestic abuse-related offences have risen by 2% in the October to December 2020 period (to 205,348 offences) compared with October to December 2019 (201,158 offences). Unlike some other offences, the number of domestic abuse-related offences in the latest year has not decreased during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Domestic abuse in England and Wales overview: November 2020.

• an estimated 7.3% of women (1.6 million) and 3.6% of men (757,000) experienced domestic abuse in the last year
• women aged 16 to 19 years were more likely to be victims of any domestic abuse in the last year than women aged 25 years and over
• adults who were separated or divorced were more likely to have experienced domestic abuse compared with those who were married or civil partnered, cohabiting, single or widowed

The Crime Survey estimates of domestic abuse are based on a relatively broad definition covering male and female victims of partner or family nonphysical abuse, threats, force, sexual assault or stalking. 

Of crimes recorded by the police:

• in the year ending March 2020, the victim was female in 74% of domestic abuse-related crimes
• between the year ending March 2017 and the year ending March 2019, 77% of victims of  domestic homicide were female compared with 13% of victims of non-domestic homicide

A Research Report from the Home Office entitled "The Economic and Social costs of Domestic Abuse" (January 2019) estimated the social and economic cost of Domestic Abuse in the year ending March 2017 in England and Wales to be approximately £66 Billion.  This equates to an average cost of £34,015 per victim of domestic abuse, including those who experience more than one incident. For South Tyneside this would equate to a cost of £29.5 million pounds to support 865 victims.

The biggest component of the estimated cost is the physical and emotional harms incurred by victims (£47 billion), particularly the emotional harms (the fear, anxiety and depression experienced by victims as a result of domestic abuse), which account for the overwhelming majority of the overall costs. The cost to the economy is also considerable, with an estimated £14 billion arising from lost output due to time off work and reduced productivity as a consequence of domestic abuse.

Some of the cost will be borne by Government such as the costs to health services (£2.3 billion) and the police (£1.3 billion). Some of the cost of victim services will also fall to Government, such as housing costs totalling £550 million, which includes temporary housing, homelessness services and repairs and maintenance. Victim services costs also include expenditure by charities and the time given up by volunteers to support victims. (The Economic and Social Cost of Domestic Abuse, Research Report, January 2019)

The table below estimates the cost of domestic abuse in South Tyneside using the incident figures for 2017 / 18 and the cost per victim calculated by the Home Office report referenced above.  This method has limited reliability but does provide a bench-mark estimate which suggests that the cost of domestic abuse in South Tyneside is approx. £83.5m per annum.  

One of the key issues is a low level of reporting; it is estimated that only around 1 in 6 domestic abuse victims will report their abuse to the police.  This has implications for agencies being able to protect the victims and their families, and also results in an underestimation of the demand for services and total costs to the system. (The Economic and Social Cost of Domestic Abuse, Research Report, January 2019)

South Tyneside local context

Similar to the North East region and national data, females are more likely to be victims of domestic abuse than males with a 75% to 25% gender split. This has remained a fairly consistent position over the last few years. 

The total number of victims within 2020 / 21 is XX and of those victims approximately 3% are people from minority ethnic backgrounds. This is similar to the rest of the North East and the national picture. However, it should be noted that this figure could be an underestimate due to a lack of reporting within certain ethnic groups.

Among the victims approx. 1.5% - 2% are aged 16 - 17 years, again similar to the north east picture, and approx. 12% of those victims are over the age of 55, which suggests the highest proportion of victims occur between the ages of 18-54 yrs, which is reflected nationally.

The total number of domestic abuse incidents for 2020 / 21 in South Tyneside was 2,412. Within all domestic abuse incidents reported approx. 77% involve a partner or ex-partner, and 45% involved children.

Domestic Homicide Reviews

Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHR) were established on a statutory basis under Section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Adults Act 2004.  They came into effect in April 2011.

The process for a DHR is a multi-agency review of circumstances in which the death of a person aged 16 or above, has or appears to have resulted from violence, abuse or neglect by a person whom he or she had been in an intimate personal relationship with or a member of the same household.

Across the Northumbria patch, in the last decade between 2011 and October 2021 there have been a total of 40 DHR of which South Tyneside had 4.

The purpose of the review is to:

• work together to safeguard victims
• identify any lessons learned
• identify how those lessons will be acted upon and what expected change would be seen a result
• applying those lessons to service responses to change policies and procedures
• prevent further domestic homicides and improve service response

The responsibility for DHR in South Tyneside sits with the Community Safety Partnership Board.

Within the Borough there are links with domestic Abuse crime incidents and deprivation. The table below reflects the total number of incidents between 2016-2021 by ward.    

Domestic Abuse Offenders

Southern Harm reduction unit focus on the most frequent repeat eliminated domestic abuse offenders and by extension their victim(s).  The current cohort of repeat eliminated domestic abuse offenders is 41 across Sunderland and South Tyneside.  South Tyneside have 19 repeat offenders.  Key data shows that there have been 225 domestic abuse incidents associated with these 19 offenders in 2020.

• Across the total of their domestic abuse histories, this cohort have been involved in 1017 domestic violence incidents as both victim and perpetrator
• On average this cohort has been involved in 56 incidents  
• 8 of the cohort are alcohol dependant or have been arrested under the influence of alcohol
• 2 of the cohort have suffered recent significant near-death medical episodes due to alcohol misuse and will require long term medical care, maybe even permanently

Drug & Alcohol & domestic Abuse incidents

South Tyneside has an estimated 2,399 alcohol dependent drinkers. This represents 19.26 dependent drinkers per 1,000 population (Northumbria average: 16.94, England average 12.88). This is the second highest rate in Northumbria, behind only Sunderland.

22.3% of drinkers in South Tyneside report binge drinking in the past year (Northumbria average: 22.6%, England average 16.5%)

Alcohol was identified as a factor on average in 56% of all domestic abuse incidents.

Data research in identifying the national picture in relation to the role of alcohol in domestic abuse in England was difficult, however some studies reported as follows   

Drinkaware reported that: According to police records in England and Wales, between April 2017 and March 2018, victims believed their perpetrator(s) to be under the influence of alcohol in 39% of violent incidents

Research by the Institute of Alcohol Studies found: Alcohol is well documented as a risk factor for many aggressive and violent acts; indeed around 60% of murders are committed under the influence of alcohol.

In terms of domestic abuse, research typically finds that between 25% and 50% of perpetrators have been drinking at the time of assault, although in some studies the figure is as high as 73%.

Research with police officers in the North East of England found some officers unable to remember the last time they went to a domestic incident where alcohol was not involved, with 93% of them regarding alcohol as having a 'large impact' on domestic violence.

Cases involving severe violence are twice as likely as others to include alcohol, and other research found that the risk of rape was twice as high for attacks involving drinking offenders.