We asked, you said, we did

We asked

We asked for your views on our draft Domestic Abuse (DA) and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy 2022-2025, which sets out the vision, objectives and ambitions for the borough.

You said

We received 28 responses to the online questionnaire. You told us:

• three quarters of respondents (76%) agreed with the overarching vision for the borough
• we must ensure the VAWG focus is maintained in the title to highlight Women and Girl’s experiences, whilst acknowledging that anyone can experience DA/VAWG throughout the strategy
• just over four fifths of respondents (82%) agreed with the partnership objectives
• 27 of the 28 respondents answered the question about personal experiences of DA and/or VAWG. Only 9 respondents hadn’t experienced any DA or VAWG personally
• 80% of the respondents who had personal experience, said they didn’t access help and cited the following reasons: I didn’t know where to get help; I didn’t feel ready to get help; I didn’t know I was experiencing DA or VAWG.
• respondents made suggestions of what would help them feel safer from VAWG in Barnet during the night. The most common responses were physical actions such as better lighting, CCTV and cutting back shrubs (six comments) and more visible police (five comments).

You can read the full consultation findings in the consultation report.

We did

In response to the feedback, we set out recommendations for amendments to the strategy and action plan.

The recommendations included amending the vision to “Our vision is for all residents of Barnet, especially women and girls, to live free of domestic abuse and all forms of VAWG. Working with our partners, we will raise awareness and work to prevent violence in the home, places of learning and employment, and in the community. The Partnership has zero tolerance for abuse and violence, perpetrators will be held to account and victims and survivors will be able to access the support and help they need.”

The recommendations were approved by the Safer Communities Partnership Board on 21 January 2022.

The DA and VAWG Strategy 2022-25 was finalised and launched on 8 March 2022 at StoneX Stadium with all the VAWG partners, survivors and SCPB members in the presence of the Mayor of Barnet.

The strategy can be found here