Home Office to lift cap on ‘inadequate’ help for trafficking victims

The Home Office has announced that it will end the 45-day policy that limits support for victims of trafficking after finding it incompatible with international standards. Instead, the policy will be replaced by a ‘needs-based systems’ which would not be redistricted to any length of time.

This announcement comes after two victims challenged the policy in the High Court which ruled that the 45-day policy was at risk of causing harm to vulnerable individuals and potentially unlawful.

The announcement, which is hoped to end the conflict of interest between the Government’s immigration policies and its modern slavery duties, has been welcomed by lawyers, politicians, and charities. However, there is now a call for the Home Office to clearly define its plans for support.

Source: The Independent

Domestic workers face heightened slavery risk in UK, warns EU study

A study by the European Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has found that domestic workers face a higher risk of slavery in the UK. The findings of the study have been published in the report Protecting migrant workers from exploitation in the EU: workers’ perspectives. The findings are based on interviews with 237 exploited workers.

The report focuses on the following areas:

• Pathways into severe labour exploitation
• Working and living conditions of exploited workers
• Employers’ strategies to keep workers in a condition of exploitation
• Interviewees’ perceptions of risk factors for severe labour exploitation
• Exploited workers’ access to justice

The report notes that exploitation often starts with people being given false promises and fraud. One of the key findings concerning the United Kingdom is that domestic workers are not protected by legislation that limits the hours an individual can work. This can easily lead to exploitation.

The report details how once an individual is being exploited, the person exploiting them will often use threats, violence and entrapment to keep them from getting access to help.

Source: European Agency for Fundamental Rights

Report raises alarm over police detention of vulnerable suspects

A report by the National Appropriate Adult Network (NAAN) has found that more than 100,000 police detentions and voluntary interviews of vulnerable adult suspects who have a mental illness, learning disability, brain injury or are autistic individuals, are carried out each year without the support of an ‘appropriate adult’.

Previous studies have indicated that as many as 39% of adults in police custody have a mental disorder or intellectual disability. Last year police recorded the need for an appropriate adult in only 6% of around 1 million police detentions and voluntary interviews of adults. The report also found that where police had no access to an organised appropriate adult scheme, they were half as likely to record an adult suspect as needing one.

Source: The Guardian

Home Office Circular: Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019

The Home Office has published a circular regarding the recent Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019. This circular is issued to inform law enforcement agencies of certain provisions in Part 1 (counter terrorism) of the Act, which came into force on 12 April 2019. Part 1 of the Act amends certain existing terrorism offences to update them for the digital age, to reflect contemporary patterns of radicalisation and developments in the terrorist threat, and to close gaps in their scope.

Home Office limit on support for slavery victims may be unlawful, court rules

A high court judge has ruled that a Home Office policy which stops all statutory support to victims of slavery six weeks after they have been formally identified as victims of slavery is potentially unlawful.

The judge has ordered the Home Office to extend the support to all victims until the next hearing on 14th April. This comes after campaigners and front line service providers have stated that abruptly ending support after such a short period could result in victims back under the control of traffickers and exploiters.

Source: the Guardian

The Domestic Abuse Report 2019: The Economics of Abuse

The Domestic Abuse Report 2019: The Economics of Abuse is the first thematic report from the series in 2019. The Annual Audit will be published later this month.

Economic abuse is often misunderstood but it is a key tactic used by perpetrators of domestic abuse to control their partner and stop her from leaving. The Domestic Abuse Report 2019: The Economics of Abuse explores the relationship between domestic abuse and economic resources, looking at the needs and experiences of survivors around finances, welfare, housing and employment (economic needs), and how these needs are met by specialist domestic abuse services.

Source: Women’s Aid

Violence against women and girls newsletter: spring 2019

The Home Office has published the Spring 2019 Violence Against Women and Girls newsletter. The newsletter focuses on a number of topics including the Domestic Abuse Bill and the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy refresh.

As well as refreshing the VAWG Strategy, the report announces the publication of a position paper about male victims of crimes relating to the VAWG Strategy. This is due to a significant number of males being affected by crimes covered in the VAWG Strategy such as domestic abuse and forced marriage.

Source: Gov.uk

Police failing to protect rape and abuse victims, says super-complaint

The Centre for Women’s Justice has accused police forces of failing to use existing powers to deal with domestic abuse, stalking and rape. This comes as a second super-complaint has been made to a national watchdog by campaigners suggesting there are systematic failures preventing the protection of victims of domestic and sexual violence.

The failures have been linked to the introduction of ‘released under investigation’ rules set out by the government which unlike bail cannot have conditions placed upon the offender. As a result, it can make it easier for victims to be contacted and protected.

Source: The Guardian

Male Victims position paper added to Strategy to end violence against women and girls: 2016 to 2020

The Government have updated the Strategy to end violence against women and girls: 2016 to 2020 to include a paper on male victims. This is as a result of the number of men who are victims of the crimes covered in the strategy. It is also meant to encourage more men who experience these crimes to come forward.

As well as adding the Male Victims position paper, the Government have refreshed the original strategy to re-affirm strategic commitments as well as providing detail of the progress that has already been made.

Source: gov.uk

Consultation on Homelessness

Views are sought on the effectiveness of existing non-statutory and statutory local accountability and partnership structures; the challenges and opportunities in two-tier authorities; whether the Government should introduce Homelessness Reduction Boards and, if so, how this could be done most effectively; and on how else we might improve local accountability and partnership working.

This consultation seeks views on how the Government could improve local accountability for the delivery of homelessness services. It covers the following areas:

• Existing accountability arrangements
• Homelessness Reduction Boards; and
• Other ways of achieving effective partnership working

This consultation will last for 12 weeks from 21 February 2019.

Source: Gov.uk