The Prison Overcrowding Crisis and the Impact on Domestic Abuse Survivors

The Prisoner Dilemma 

The impact of the prison overcrowding crisis on survivors of domestic abuse. 

Amy Bowdrey, Policy and Public Affairs Officer, Refuge 

Co-author: Jess Eagelton, Head of Policy, Public Affairs and Research 

Introduction 

The prison population is at crisis point. The male prison estate is close to 99% capacity, and as of mid-August, there were only 340 spaces left in the adult male prison estate.¹ As of 23 August, the prison population stood at 88,234 and usable operational capacity at 89,383.²  

In recent years, a series of emergency measures to try and tackle the crisis have been implemented. Whilst Refuge recognises the need to ease pressure on prison estates, many of these announcements have provoked concerns about domestic abuse survivors’ safety. The possibility of their perpetrator being released early will likely cause a great deal of anxiety and fear, requiring survivors to take steps to protect themselves earlier than planned. Refuge, and many of our sister organisations, have been highlighting the need to exempt domestic abuse offenders from measures to reduce pressure on prisons.  

The previous Conservative Government announced measures to tackle the pressure on the prison estate, including the End of Custody Supervised License Scheme (ECSL), proposed legislation to suspend custodial sentences of 12 months or less and the introduction of Operation Early Dawn to hold offenders in police cells when remanded in custody, and only summoned to court when a prison space is available for them. The National Police Chiefs’ Council also asked police forces to consider pausing non-priority arrests.³ 

On coming to power, the new Labour Government announced plans to abandon the ECSL Scheme and instead, announced that as a temporary measure, the proportion of certain custodial sentences served in prison will be reduced from 50% to 40%. Unlike previous measures, this measure would exempt some domestic abuse-related offences.  

The introduction of these various measures has raised serious concerns for survivors of domestic abuse and other forms of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). Without wraparound protection provided by proper risk assessment from prison and probation services, adequate police responses to breaches of protection orders and prison recalls, and effective monitoring by probation services, these proposals could pose a considerable threat to the safety of domestic abuse survivors. This blog outlines the recent solutions that have been proposed for tackling the prison overcrowding crisis and examines the potential impact on survivors of domestic abuse. Refuge calls for an absolute exemption for all perpetrators of domestic abuse and other forms of VAWG from any early release scheme, including perpetrators who are serving custodial sentences for offences that are not domestic abuse related but have a known history of domestic abuse and VAWG. Without this, survivors of domestic abuse will feel that their safety is at risk.  

Reducing some standard custodial sentences from 50% to 40% 

In July 2024, the Lord Chancellor announced that the Government would be bringing the ECSL Scheme to an end, instead introducing temporary measures that would reduce the proportion of standard determinate sentences served in prison from 50% to 40% (‘SDS40’). Sentences for serious violence offences of four years or more, and sexual offences will be automatically excluded from early release. In contrast to the ECSL, the new measures mean that offenders in prison for some domestic abuse-related offences will also be excluded, this includes: 

• An offence in the Sexual Offences Act 1956;   

• An offence in the Sexual Offences Act 2003;   

• A sexual offence listed in Schedule 15 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003;   

• A sentence of 4+ years for a violent offence in Schedule 15 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003;  

• Stalking offences in the Protection from Harassment Act 1997;  

• Controlling and coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship in the Serious Crime Act 2015;  

• Non-fatal strangulation and suffocation in the Serious Crime Act 2015;  

• Breach of a restraining order in the Sentencing Act 2020;  

• Breach of a non-molestation order in the Family Law Act 1996;  

• Breach of a Domestic Abuse Protection Order in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (once they come into force – subject to government taking a decision on launch of the DAPOs). 

Refuge welcomes the exemptions for some domestic abuse related offences. However, this exemption list will not include all domestic abuse offenders, such as those charged with common assault. It will also not include those offenders with a domestic abuse history who are serving a prison sentence for an unrelated offence, meaning some domestic abuse perpetrators will be released from prison early under SDS40. 

Offenders eligible for early release will start being released in September 2024, with two tranches of release on 10 September and 22 October. Around 3,000 offenders will be released in these tranches, and SDS40 will then become ‘business as usual’ from this point on. The government will review SDS40 in 18 months. 

Offenders released will be monitored on licence by the Probation Service through measures which can include electronic tagging and curfews. If offenders breach their licence conditions, they face being recalled to prison.  

Although we welcome the Government’s plans to ensure some perpetrators of domestic abuse are not released early from prison, the list of exemptions is not comprehensive enough to ensure all domestic abuse perpetrators are exempt from the measures. Domestic abuse perpetrators often receive sentences for offences such as common assault and battery. In the year ending March 2023, 6.3% of domestic abuse related violence against the person offences were charged or summonsed⁴. However, violence against the person offences, such as common assault and battery, where the perpetrator is sentenced to four years or less, will not be exempt from the measures.  

Although stalking is an offence listed as an exemption from the new measures, we are concerned that breach of a stalking protection order is excluded from the list of exempt offences listed. In the year ending March 2023, there were 709,388 stalking and harassment offences recorded by the police⁵. Domestic abuse survivors are disproportionately impacted by stalking. Half of all stalkers are ex-intimate partners (50%), where the victim has separated or has attempted separation⁶.  

Data suggests that in an estimated 10% of cases that result in a 12 month or less sentence, the case is related to domestic abuse, and in a further 10% of cases, the offender has been flagged by probation for domestic abuse⁷. Therefore, many offenders in prison will be domestic abuse perpetrators, even if not serving a custodial sentence for a domestic abuse-related offence. 

The Victim Contact Scheme allows survivors of a serious sexual or violent offence, where the offender receives a custodial sentence of 12 months or more, to know certain information about the sentence their perpetrator received, including when an offender will be released, receiving an annual contact letter and being informed at key stages in the sentence. Survivors who are part of the Victim Contact Scheme, or the Victim Notification Scheme (for victims of stalking or harassment offences regardless of the length of a custodial sentence) will be informed about a change to an offender’s release date. However, no such guarantees are provided for survivors of domestic abuse where a sentence does not meet the above criteria. Beyond the SDS40 scheme, this has resulted in survivors of domestic abuse not knowing when their perpetrators will be released.  

Recommendations: 

• The ‘SDS40’ scheme should be urgently revised to ensure anyone with a known history of or conviction of a VAWG-related offence is excluded from early release. Given the legal necessities of naming specific offences in SDS40 legislation, this could be achieved via guidance to the Probation Service.

• Common assault, battery, and section 2 harassment offences flagged as domestic abuse related should be listed as an exemption from the ‘SDS40’ scheme. 

• A breach of a Stalking Protection Order should be listed as an exemption from the ‘SDS40’ scheme.

• Robust quality assurance should take place in the Probation Service to ensure every offender is thoroughly risk assessed and checked for domestic abuse prior to release.

• The Victim Contact Scheme should be extended to all survivors of domestic abuse, or at a minimum the prison and probation service should effectively communicate with survivors if perpetrators of domestic abuse and other forms of VAWG are to be released from prison.

The government pledged to have 1,000 extra trainee probation officers in place by spring 2025 to help the probation service cope with the emergency prison release scheme, and to temporarily boost overtime pay. These announcements are very welcome, and we urge the government to continue exploring options to ensure probation teams can ensure perpetrators are safely and effectively monitored on release. See the section on ‘An over-stretched and under-resourced probation service’ for further detail. 

End of Custody Supervised License Scheme (ECSL) 

In October 2023, Secretary of State for Justice at the time, Alex Chalk KC, told the House of Commons that the Government would allow prisoners to be released from prison up to 18 days before their automatic release date. Prisoners serving a sentence for any sexual offence or terrorist offences are excluded from release on ECSL, as were those serving a sentence of 4 years or more for a serious violent offence. Domestic abuse was not explicitly included as an exemption. The Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) would be able to decide on further exemptions. Refuge and the VAWG sector collectively raised concerns about ECSL and called for perpetrators of domestic abuse and other forms of VAWG to be exempt from the scheme. 

In March 2024, the scheme expanded to allow for release up to 60 days early, and to 70 days in May.  Over the course of the scheme, over 10,000 offenders were released.⁸ 

Previous implementation 

Previously, the End of Custody Licence (ECL) was implemented under the Brown-Labour Government in June 2007, in a previous response to prison overcrowding. Under the scheme, eligible prisoners serving sentences of between four weeks and four years could be released under temporary licence up to 18 days before their automatic or conditional release date. During this period, the National Association of Probation Officers expressed concerns about domestic abuse perpetrators being released early under the scheme, stating that convicted abusers were released without any accommodation checks and returning to survivor’s addresses. At the time, in 19 of the cases the offence involved domestic abuse and the perpetrator was also deemed high risk. In 8 cases a further offence of domestic abuse was reported to have occurred during the period of licence.⁹ During the implementation of the ECL, in August 2007, Amanda Murphy was murdered by her partner whilst he was on the ECL at the end of a prison sentence for domestic abuse related battery. Although Justice Swift, the senior high court judge in the case, found that she did not believe that the defendant’s early release had led to Miss Murphy’s death, this still raises serious concerns for domestic abuse survivors.¹⁰ 

Operation Early Dawn and police guidance on arrests 

In May 2024, the Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk KC triggered an emergency measure, Operation Early Dawn, to alleviate prison capacity pressures until the introduction of an extension to the End of Custody Supervised Licence scheme to 70 days. The implementation of the measure meant that the Ministry of Justice said HM Prison and Probation would assess each morning which defendants can be transferred from police cells if a prison space was available, with warnings that this could result in magistrate court cases being delayed and non-prioritised defendants being released on bail.¹¹  

Subsequently, it was reported that the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), as advised by the Ministry of Justice, wrote to Chief Constables in England about the activation of Operation Early Dawn by HMPPS. The guidance reportedly stated that pausing ‘non-priority’ arrests and planned police operations that might result in large numbers of arrests should be considered to ease pressures on the criminal justice system.     

The guidance advising the pause of ‘non-priority’ arrests raised serious concerns about the police response to domestic abuse, stalking and other forms of VAWG. The Baroness Casey Review, found that police prioritisation of VAWG, as reflected in initiatives such as the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and the Strategic Policing Requirement, ‘has not been made an operational reality’.¹² Offences that largely impact women, such as domestic abuse related offences, stalking, harassment and sexual offences, were often deprioritised and minimised. The report also found police officers often lack the knowledge to adequately investigate these crimes. 

In August, Operation Early Dawn was reactivated in the North East, Yorkshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire, to avoid overcrowding as a result of pressure on prisons from the riots.

Suspending sentences of 12 months or less 

In October 2023, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk MP announced that the Government would introduce a presumption against prison sentences of less than 12 months as part of the now scrapped Sentencing Bill. The measure meant that there would be a duty on the courts to suspend custodial sentences of 12 months or less, and offenders would avoid prison and instead serve their sentences in the community.  

Refuge and other VAWG organisations called for clarity following this announcement, highlighting the need to exempt domestic abuse and VAWG offenders from these changes. In November, the Ministry of Justice announced exemptions to protect domestic abuse survivors, by adding that the duty to suspend short sentences would not apply where the ‘the court is of the opinion that making the order would put a particular individual at significant risk of harm.’ In addition, courts would retain full discretion to impose immediate custody where the offender has breached a court order or where they reoffend whilst on license.¹³ Whilst a positive step forward, Refuge retained concerns about this exemption given the risk it could be applied inconsistently and relies on judicial understanding and knowledge of violence against women and girls.  

Although the Sentencing Bill fell due to the General Election, the prison overcrowding crisis continues to raise serious questions as to whether the current Government will have to consider further drastic measures such as this.  

Perpetrators of domestic abuse related offences, and offences such as stalking and harassment often receive short custodial sentences. In the year ending June 2022, 1,070 offenders were sentenced to 12 months or less for offences such as coercive or controlling behaviour, stalking, exposure and voyeurism or sexual offences.¹⁴ In a system that already fails to communicate effectively with survivors, increased pressure on the prison and probation service could mean that a survivor’s safety is placed at risk if they are not notified, with sufficient preparation time, that their perpetrator has been released. For survivors of domestic abuse, this is already a reality. Survivors have told Refuge that they have received poor communication from criminal justice agencies regarding updates on the release of perpetrators. 

Impact on survivors of domestic abuse 

In Refuge’s experience, the implementation of these measures are likely to be having a significant impact on the physical and emotional safety of survivors of domestic abuse. Refuge frontline practitioners have reported that the survivors they support have had to relocate in preparation for the early release of their perpetrator, to prevent them from locating them. In advance, frontline practitioners are urging survivors to use protections available to them, including protective orders and contacting the police. However, we know that often when survivors do utilise these tools, the police and criminal justice response is inadequate. Survivors are voicing these concerns with specialist services, saying that they are not being taken seriously and that nothing is being done when they report breaches of protective orders.  

Often, perpetrators will continue their abuse from prison. One survivor told Refuge that while her perpetrator was in prison he was able to contact her, including sending her photos even when she told the prison she did not want to be contacted by him In one case a perpetrator enlisted another inmate to perpetrate abuse for them when they were released. Even after this, prison and probation staff making risk assessments have failed to identify perpetrators to be a risk to survivors and have approved their early release. 

For survivors of domestic abuse, the fear that a perpetrator may be released from prison earlier, and without their knowledge, is not new. The press reports of prison overcrowding and early release measures will likely have caused fear and uncertainty to many survivors whose perpetrators are currently in prison. 

One survivor told Refuge that she was never told that her perpetrator was released early from prison. She was not notified that he was out of prison until a month after he had been released. Her perpetrator was subject to multiple protective orders, however when he continuously breached the conditions of the order after his release, the police did not arrest him. She said, regarding the announcement of prison overcrowding measures: “I feel like this is going to be so damaging if it does come to fruition, it’s going to be so hard for women and children”, adding “your partner’s just out one day and you either get informed the day of their release or later, after they’ve already come back, and they know where you are.”  

The survivor had to move many times, after her perpetrator located her, and she still lives in the fear that he will find her.

Specialist VAWG services are supporting survivors who are extremely worried about their safety during this time. It is likely there will be increased demand for support services during early releases under SDS40. 

Refuge also recognises that prison release schemes may also impact on survivors of domestic abuse who have been criminalised and who are in prison. For example, SDS40 is expected to free up 250 places in the women’s estate.¹⁵ ECSL was paused in the women’s estate, as capacity pressures are not as severe as in the men’s estate. At least 57% of women in prison and under community supervision are survivors of domestic abuse.¹⁶ This may be an underrepresentation, given the barriers to women disclosing domestic abuse. Research by organisations such as the Centre for Women’s Justice illustrates that for many women, their offending is a direct result of their experience of abuse – they may, for example, have been coerced into theft or drug offences. Advance, who provide support to women who have experienced domestic abuse and those who are in contact with the criminal justice system, state that prison does not work for most women and that women should be able to receive longer-term support in the community.¹⁷ 

Recommendations: 

• Increased funding for specialist VAWG services, who are already facing high demand and an insecure funding landscape.

An over-stretched and under-resourced probation service 

In approximately 30% of cases inspected by HM Inspectorate of Probation, there was a concern about the person on probation being a perpetrator of domestic abuse.¹⁸ Serious concerns have been raised about the probation service’s ability to adequately monitor domestic abuse perpetrators. In 2023, the Inspectorate found that despite some positive developments in policy, very little appeared to have improved. In fact, Chief Inspector Russell noted in some respects things had deteriorated. In the Inspectorate’s thematic inspection into domestic abuse, they found significant failures to analyse previous domestic abuse and patterns of offending, and in some cases there was also a failure to recognise the offending as domestic abuse.¹⁹ It was found that too often, poor-quality risk assessments concerning domestic abuse missed out essential details or failed to provide a sufficient analysis of the case²⁰. The recent murders of Zara Aleena and Terri Harris, Connie Gent, Lacey Bennett and John Bennett have highlighted successive missed opportunities by probation practitioners to correctly assess and manage the risk of harm that perpetrators posed to both women and children. 

An inspection of Lewes prison took place immediately after the introduction of the 18-day ECSL. It found that the scheme’s implementation was undermining good, safe release planning and risk management. This included release dates for some high-risk prisoners being brought forward at short notice. In one case, a high-risk prisoner who was a risk to children was released despite a history of domestic abuse, stalking and being subject to a restraining order. However, these concerns exist in the context of significant underfunding and under-resourcing of the probation service, leading to an overstretched and overwhelmed workforce.  The caseload for registered sex offenders (RSOs) managed under category 1 of MAPPA has increased by 111% since 2006/2007, reaching over 64,000 in 2021, with persistent year on-year growth between 3-8%.21 Previous Chief Inspector of Probation, Justin Russell stated that ‘the Probation Service is struggling’ where ‘probation officers have too many cases and too little time to focus on this key area of their work, putting the public potentially at risk.’ ²² In the Probation Inspectorate’s Annual Report 2022/2023, chronic staffing shortages at every grade have led to what staff perceive to be unmanageable workloads, caseloads and to the poor quality of management oversight of frontline practitioners which was of an acceptable standard in only 28%of cases.²³  

In the Inspectorate’s thematic inspection into domestic abuse they found probation practitioners had too many cases to manage to complete meaningful work and found contact with a person on probation at risk of perpetrating further domestic abuse was minimal and done via phone calls rather than by face-to-face meetings. However, where probation practitioners work with smaller caseloads, the quality of domestic abuse work is dramatically improved.²⁴ 

Recommendations: 

• The Probation Service should be adequately resourced and funded to ensure caseloads are manageable and women and children are protected. This may include further urgent measures including emergency funding to ensure probation staff can cope with additional demand from SDS40.

• Probation Service staff monitoring VAWG offenders must be giving frequent, in-depth training into VAWG.

• The Probation Service should strengthen links with specialist VAWG services and ensure regional/local probation teams play a strong role in cross-agency safeguarding arrangements, such as Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) and Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA).

Breaches of licence conditions and protective orders 

Under the SDS40 scheme, released offenders will be monitored on licence by the Probation Service through measures, and if they breach licence conditions, they could be recalled to prison. These conditions could include electronic GPS tagging and curfews. It will be critically important for probation services to monitor domestic abuse and VAWG offenders on licence. In the inquest into the murder of Zara Aleena, it was found that Zara’s murderer breached the conditions of his licence, but there was a delay in signing paperwork to initiate his recall to prison. In addition, probation did not opt for an electronic monitoring tag when this was an option, and the Met’s attempts to arrest the perpetrator to recall him to prison were delayed by inaccurate data on the recall and a lack of professional curiosity. 

It is also important to look at the wider landscape of protective measures available to criminal and civil justice agencies such as the police and family courts when seeking to protect women and girls. Orders such as Domestic Violence Protection Orders, Stalking Protection Orders and restraining orders should provide much-needed protection for survivors. The family courts should be prepared for a potential increase in survivors requiring protective orders where their perpetrators are released early. A breach of a protective order is a criminal offence, however, the inadequate police response to breaches of these orders is leaving survivors of domestic abuse at risk – essentially, breaching a protective order has been decriminalised. A police super-complaint submitted by the Centre for Women’s Justice in 2019 raised concerns that the police were failing to use protective measures to protect women and girls. The subsequent joint investigation by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and the College of Policing found that there was a ‘lack of understanding within police forces over how and when to use protective measures, which means support for victims is sometimes not good enough – and could lead to women and girls being harmed, or victims being less likely to report crime in the future.’²⁵  

Domestic Violence Protection Orders are obtained on average in only 1% of domestic abuse crimes.²⁶ A lack of understanding of the dynamics of domestic abuse means that officers often do not understand what constitutes a breach of a protective order and treat reports of domestic abuse as isolated events rather than evaluating the pattern of behaviour perpetrated by an abusive partner. Domestic abuse perpetrators will often use social media accounts to stalk and harass survivors; however, the police response to this is inadequate, as they often say they cannot prove that a perpetrator is using the account. When survivors experience breaches of protective orders and the order is not enforced by police officers, the order becomes virtually meaningless.  

Recommendations: 

• All police forces across England and Wales should develop a survivor-centred, specialist domestic abuse response which is properly resourced.

• Police should receive regular mandatory, culturally competent, trauma informed training on Violence Against Women and Girls delivered by specialist VAWG services, to improve the experiences of survivors reporting abuse to police officers.  

Housing

When perpetrators are released from prison and suitable accommodation has not been secured, the perpetrator may return to a survivor’s home, either leading to continued abuse or forcing them to flee and rendering them homeless. There is concern that with the implementation of new measures such as SDS40, there may be reduced time to secure appropriate, longer-term housing options for offenders released early. We understand that under SDS40, where probation teams are considering housing for offenders, they are undertaking address checks to ensure it is safe for offenders to be housed there.  

In September 2021, Damien Bendall was charged with the murders of Connie Gent (aged 11), Lacey Bennett (aged 11), John Paul Bennett (aged 13) and Terri Harris, who was pregnant, and with raping Lacey. Damien Bendall was on probation serving a 24-month suspended sentence order when he committed the murders and had been curfewed to Teri and her children’s address. He also had a history of domestic abuse and sexual risk of harm to children. In the Independent Serious Further Office Review, it was found that no consideration was given to the suitability of the address for the safety of the relationship between Bendall and Terri Harris, and the safety of the children.²⁷ Before her murder, Terri Harris was not contacted for her views on this. 

Recommendations: 

• Probation practice should ensure anyone with a known history of or conviction of a domestic abuse, stalking or VAWG-related offence is not automatically returned to the same address as a survivor.

Thank you to the survivors who supported with this work, and in memory of the women and children who should have been protected. 

^[1] ‘Operation Early Dawn: Emergency move to avoid prison overcrowding triggered – amid sentencing of rioters,’ 19 August 2024.

^[2] Ministry of Justice, 2024, Prison Population Figures: 2024, Prison population figures: 2024 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Useable operational capacity is the sum of all establishments’ operational capacity less 1350 places, which is the operating margin and reflects the constraints imposed by the need to provide appropriate accommodation for different classes of prisoners i.e. by sex, security category.

^[3] As reported in BBC News, 22 May 2024.

^[4] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/domesticabuseandthecriminaljusticesystemappendixtables

^[5] ONS 2023, Crime in England and Wales – Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)

^[6] National Stalking Service figures, year ending March 2022 (Modus Janus)

^[7] SentencingBillIAShortSentences.pdf (parliament.uk)

^[8] Ministry of Justice, ‘Lord Chancellor sets out immediate action to defuse ticking prison ‘time-bomb’,’ 12 July 2024.

^[9] House of Commons Library, ‘The End of Custody Licence,’ 2010.

^[10] As reported in The Guardian, 11 December 2007.

^[11] Law Society, ‘Operation Early Dawn: an update for members,’ 15 May 2024.

^[12] Baroness Casey Review, ‘Final Report: An independent review into the standards of behaviour and internal culture of the Metropolitan Police Service,’ March 2023.

^[13] Ministry of Justice, ‘Policy paper: Sentencing Bill Factsheet: Short Sentences,’ updated December 2023..

^[14] Ministry of Justice, ‘Outcomes by Offence data tool: June 2022,’ 2022. Combined of: Offence group sexual offences (558); relevant offences for stalking (314); coercive and controlling behaviour (42); exposure and voyeurism (156).

^[15] https://insidetime.org/newsround/just-serve-40/

^[16] Centre for Women’s Justice, ‘Stop Criminalizing Survivors.’

^[17] https://www.advancecharity.org.uk/community-support-for-women-in-contact-with-the-criminal-justice-system/

^[18] Too many at risk of domestic abuse by people on probation, HM Inspectorate of Probation finds (justiceinspectorates.gov.uk)

^[19] Ibid.

^[20] A thematic inspection of work undertaken, and progress made, by the Probation Service to reduce the incidence of domestic abuse and protect victims (justiceinspectorates.gov.uk)

^[21] National Policing Statement, VAWG, 2024

^[22] Chief Inspector calls for an independent review of the Probation Service, publishing his final annual report (justiceinspectorates.gov.uk)

^[23] Ibid.

^[24] Too many at risk of domestic abuse by people on probation, HM Inspectorate of Probation finds (justiceinspectorates.gov.uk)

^[25] HMICFRS, ‘Police should change approach to using protective measures to safeguard women and girls,’ 24 August 2021.

^[26] Centre for Women’s Justice, ‘Police super-complaint report shines a light on police failure to protect domestic abuse victims as prosecutions collapse by 50% in just three years,’ August 2021.

^[27] HM Inspectorate of Probation, ‘Independent serious further offence review of Damien Bendall,’ January 2023.