Inching forward on domestic violence: the ‘co-ordinated community response’ and putting it in practice in Cheshire

Abstract

Violence against women is at the sharp end of gender oppression. In combating domestic violence specifically, ‘co-ordinated community responses’ are now widely recognised as the best way forward, bringing together all relevant organisations to build pro-active, preventative projects with the key involvement of women's domestic violence services. The Cheshire Domestic Abuse Partnership in the UK is conducting pioneering work along these lines. From 2000 to 2003, this project was funded and evaluated through the Home Office Crime Reduction Programme. This paper builds on the material from the evaluation, supplemented with an analysis of recent developments until 2007 which have maintained the initiative at the forefront of domestic abuse work. Thus, the article is a discussion paper, rather than an evaluation report (available elsewhere). Using a gender analysis of power and control to understand domestic abuse, the Cheshire project melds together data monitoring, improved policing, training, outreach to abuse survivors, and domestic violence projects in schools, in an active mix under mature multi-agency leadership. Its central focus, deriving from the principles of the women's activist movement, is the empowerment of abused women. The Cheshire initiative has much to teach us about how to move forward in making women's and children's lives safer.