In 2012 as the newly-elected PCC for Sussex, Katy Bourne pledged to begin tackling domestic abuse (DA) in Sussex and helped Sussex Police to launch their own DA campaign as they were seeing an average of 40 reports a day across the county.
In 2013, Sussex’s stance to end violence against women and girls took a step forwards when Sussex Police were the first police force across England and Wales to obtain White Ribbon Status with the help of PCC Katy Bourne.
From here, PCC Bourne was able to provide £250,000 to East Sussex County Council, West Sussex County Council and Brighton & Hove City Council to enhance domestic and sexual violence services across the county.
This included the creation of a Specialist Domestic Abuse Support Coordinator placed within the Southeast Coast Ambulance Service to help emergency services to identify victims of domestic abuse. PCC Bourne also obtained an additional £95,000 from the Ministry of Justice to fund several specialist posts to support children and young people who have experienced domestic or sexual violence.
Moving through to 2014/15, momentum continued as technology evolved and PCC Bourne was able to fund specialist phones provided to victims of DA. The phones would direct victims through to the police and were fitted with GPS trackers so that they could activate the phone whenever they felt at risk.
16 officers were also trained as specialist Harmful Traditional Practises Investigators through Karma Nirvana charity in line with the Crown Prosecution Service.
Funding was also allocated towards a Domestic Abuse Peer Educator programme within Black and Ethnic Minority communities. This programme saw immense success in providing communities with the knowledge and confidence to report DA and PCC Bourne and her team then worked with partners to widen this scheme further.
RISE and Survivors Network also received funding from PCC Bourne to tackle DA and sexual violence and are still vital partnered with her today.
Sussex PCC Katy Bourne was also able to allocate over £100,000 to Sussex Police to help safeguard against domestic abuse as part of Operation Ribbon. This included domestic abuse patrol cars and specialist smart phones to support high-risk victims of DA.
Safe Space Sussex
As the Sussex network of victim support services continued to grow, in 2016 Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne launched ‘Safe Space Sussex’, the first online directory of victim services. This directory allows victims of crime to easily find and reach out for support. It also helps those who aren’t sure of what crime they’re a victim of, to assess which service they should be referred to. In 2023, the directory is still live and currently has 39 VAWG-related services.
2016 also saw the launch of a ground-breaking pilot to challenge perpetrators of DA. Working with West Sussex County Council, Safelives, and PCC Bourne, this pilot ran over the course of three years and was so successful it was then expanded countywide and adopted nationally. The programme influences perpetrators to change their behaviour and further protects victims.
With a firm understanding of the multitude of issues that victims of DA face, PCC Bourne sat on a panel discussion in 2018 with Crest Advisory to look at how justice for victims of DA could be improved. A report was published highlighting how research, policy, lived experiences and technology could be connected better protect the vulnerable and prevent further DA.
The Government released the Domestic Abuse Bill in 2019 which was warmly received by PCC Bourne and partners in Sussex. This bill was a landmark movement for victims of DA, recognising the complex crime that it is and giving it an appropriate definition – going beyond crimes of violence and includes victims who are psychologically coerced as well as those who are denied finances. The Bill also put an end to victims facing cross-examination in the family court by their perpetrators. Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Orders were also introduced.
In the same week as the launch of the new Bill, PCC Bourne commissioned Sussex Community Development Association to work alongside charity The Rita Project, on a Rural Domestic and Social Abuse Recovery Project to help those living in the more rural areas of Sussex.
The Daisy Chain Project were also awarded £50,000 by PCC Bourne to offer free legal advice for victims of DA in court. Statistics showed that thousands of DA victims were having to represent themselves in family courts at great personal cost. This often led to re-traumatisation for the victim and allowed for other forms of control from their perpetrators. The Daisy Chain Project were commissioned to offer Pro Bono legal advice for those victims.
The world was plunged into various states of lockdown in early 2020 which generated a concern nationwide that victims of crime may not safely reach out for help. This led to the Safe Space Sussex directory being updated so that a new search tool could help a victim of crime find the right service for them within 10 seconds. A ‘leave site now’ button was also implemented for users of the site to quickly exit should they need to. Guidance was provided across the county by the PCC’s office on how to access the website covertly. Sussex Police also introduced their ‘55’ Technology – this is where victims too scared to speak on the phone to alert a 999-call handler that they are in need of help can simply press 55 on their phone.
Towards the end of 2020, PCC Bourne secured £402,000 from the Government to set up the first countywide domestic abuse perpetrator programme. After seeing only a 4% conviction rate for DA offences in 2019, it was clear that, unless more perpetrators were sentenced, they will not receive any service intervention that would address their behaviour.
The perpetrator programme targets the most active dangerous DA predators, uncovering and addressing the reasons why they commit these crimes. The aim of the programme is to change behaviours to reduce re-offending through evidence-based intervention. Perpetrators can be identified by the police or if an individual recognises that their behaviour needs addressing, they can refer themselves into the programme.
This programme also introduced Independent Domestic Violence Advisors in the county to support victims and their families.
2021 saw an additional £2m of funding from the MOJ to support victims of DA and sexual violence with a focus on under-represented communities at the time. 17 organisations were identified to increase local specialist support services for BAME and LGBTQ+ communities alongside individuals with complex needs.
Specialist support services continued throughout 2021 to tackle DA during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sussex Police Local Resolution Team made up of specially trained officers worked with low-risk reports of DA to help victims feel safer and to help with the prosecution process.
A renewed conversation surrounding the epidemic of Violence Against Women and Girls happened towards the end of 2021 following the murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa. In the October Performance & Accountability Meeting of 2021, PCC Katy Bourne scrutinised Sussex Police’s response to VAWG and actions raised in Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services final inspection report into the police response to VAWG. This also highlighted a need for improved vetting requirements due to a fall in public trust in police due to recent events.
PCC Katy Bourne launched a new campaign called Do The Right Thing to encourage men how to recognise sexual harassment and misogynistic behaviour and to give them the confidence and skills to safely call this out when they witnessed it.
Find out more about Do The Right Thing below
2022 and beyond
In early 2022, the Minister for Safeguarding visited Sussex to see how PCC Bourne and partners were tackling VAWG.
PCC Bourne revealed that she had commissioned a countywide Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Framework with an accompanying Action Plan. As part of this, a VAWG Superintendent Lead was appointed Sussex Police and funded by PCC Bourne.
Currently, work across the county with partners continues to tackle VAWG. This year the innovative Sussex Perpetrator Intervention Programme received £1.3m of Home Office funding to continue its work to tackle the most prolific abusers and stalkers.
Services funded through Katy Bourne’s office helped over 14,800 female victims of DA, sexual violence and stalking in 2022 alone.
In 2023, PCC Bourne has funded over £5m to 33 services for DA and stalking to continue to help those who need it most.