Domestic abuse victims in England and Wales are facing arrest when calling the emergency services for help, according to new data published by Women in Prison.
The charity asked more than 500 women in the criminal justice system about their experiences of domestic abuse, with nearly a third (29%) saying they were arrested when the police or emergency services were called to a domestic incident, even when they were the victim of abuse. The offence of assaulting an emergency worker, which was made a crime in 2018, was a major driver of arrests.
The report follows a groundbreaking investigation published by openDemocracy last year, which revealed that at least 1,486 women accused of assaulting an emergency worker since 2020 had, at some point, been recorded as victims of domestic abuse. The figure is an underestimate, as only seven of England and Wales’ 43 police forces responded to our Freedom of Information request.
Now, Women in Prison’s new data confirms the extent to which domestic abuse victims are being criminalised when interacting with the emergency services, prompting concerns that women will be put off calling for help when suffering violence.
Mia (not her real name) was in an abusive relationship and called the police due to feeling unsafe in her home. When the officers arrived, her abuser claimed that she was acting violently towards him, leading to her being handcuffed and removed from the property.
During her arrest, Mia became distressed after hitting her head on the police car door. In response, the male officer told her that “you are not a victim”. Angry and upset that she was under arrest when calling for help, she spat at him, leading to her conviction for assaulting an emergency worker. “I literally lost my whole life because of this,” she said. “I would never call the police again for help; I’ve lost everything because of them.”
Women convicted of the violent offence struggle to access housing and work, and are at risk of losing their children. This was the case for Mia, whose children were taken into care following her conviction. Social services also cited that she could not protect her children from her perpetrator’s domestic abuse.
“When men get arrested they get taken away,” Mia said. “When women get arrested, they take the children away.”
Mia’s story is far from unusual. At an event in Parliament hosted by Women in Prison this week, the charity’s chief executive Sonya Ruparel revealed that its frontline workers are “saying this is now every woman in my caseload”.
Ruparel also praised openDemocracy’s reporting to an audience that included peers, academics, lawyers and frontline workers. “Protecting emergency workers and protecting vulnerable women are not competing aims,” she said.
Sian Norris
The event was held to bring attention to how women are being disproportionately drawn into the criminal justice system by the offence, which was introduced under Conservative prime minister Theresa May.
Women account for 29.7% of adults found guilty of assaulting an emergency worker, compared to 15% of adult offenders convicted of common assault. Assaulting an emergency worker now makes up more than half (52%) of all female prosecutions for violence against the person, and it is the second most indictable offence for women after shoplifting.
The disproportionality was noted in the equality impact assessment carried out when the Conservative government doubled the maximum sentence for the offence to two years in 2022. However, MPs failed to interrogate why women were more likely to be arrested for this offence.
The government’s own analysis recognises that there has been no deterrent effect of introducing the offence or increasing the sentencing. In the case of abuse victims, this is because the offending is not planned, but a response to trauma or feeling in danger, and violence.
Women in Prison recommends that police introduce vulnerability screening processes to ensure women arrested for the offence are assessed by a domestic abuse specialist before any charging decisions are made.
The charity is calling on the government to act on recommendations in the recent Independent Sentencing Review and commission a study on the impact and consequences of the legislation on vulnerable and marginalised groups, such as women at risk of domestic abuse.
It is also seeking revised Crown Prosecution Service guidance to recognise when a domestic abuse victim is arrested for assaulting an emergency worker and guide prosecution decisions accordingly.
