Thousands of domestic abuse crimes were recorded in Cumbria last year, new figures show.
This comes as Cumbria police recently announced a county-wide bolstering of efforts to combat violence against women and girls during the last leg of 2024, with additional patrols and specialised initiatives already in place.
New domestic abuse protection notices and orders, introduced by the previous government, are set to be trialled in parts of England and Wales before being rolled out across the country.
Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, said the new changes will ensure more victims receive the ‘robust protection they deserve’.
Home Office figures show 6,163 domestic abuse-related crimes were recorded by Cumbria Constabulary in the year to March – down from 6,426 the year before.
Of these crimes, eight per cent resulted in a charge or summons.
Police forces across England and Wales recorded 851,062 domestic abuse-related crimes, a fall from 911,248 the previous year.
However, the Office for National Statistics' crime survey estimated 2.3 million people aged 16 years and over experienced domestic abuse in the past year.
Cumbria police will imminently implement ‘Operation Vigilant’, which, as well as the deployment of officers to look for predatory behaviour, will see specialist criminal investigation department officers working late and night shifts to provide enhanced support for victims of domestic abuse, and community teams will promote safety messages to encourage people to look out for their friends and loved ones.
The efforts are part of Cumbria Constabulary’s continued focus on making the night-time economy safer for everyone.
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Detective Inspector Mark Taylor, the lead officer for violence against women and girls, said that while overall domestic abuse cases have decreased annually, the Christmas period often brings a spike in certain crimes due to increased socialising and alcohol consumption.
The figures also show there have been 353 domestic homicide victims between the years ending March 2021 and March 2023, including three recorded by Cumbria Constabulary.
Of the victims, 231 were women (65 per cent).
Ms Phillips said of the ‘frightening’ figures: "That’s why one of our first acts against our ambitious manifesto pledge to halve violence against women and girls in a decade is to launch new, strengthened domestic abuse protection orders.
"By bringing together the strongest elements of existing orders into a flexible order that covers all forms of domestic abuse and has no time limit, we’ll ensure more victims receive the robust protection they deserve."
The new DAPNs and DAPOs are intended to cover all forms of domestic abuse and, unlike some orders that only last for 28 days, will have no time restrictions.
The orders can include exclusion zones and can require abusers to attend behaviour change programmes. Breaching the requirement could result in up to five years in prison.
The changes will also now allow victims’ friends and family to apply for an order on their behalf.
The new orders will be trialled in Greater Manchester, three London boroughs and by the British Transport Police, with further pilots in Cleveland and North Wales early in 2025 prior to a national rollout.
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