SHARON HODGSON BACKS ED BALLS' CAMPAIGN TO PROTECT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROTECTION ORDERS

GET INVOLVED - WRITE TO THE HOME SECRETARY TODAY

Washington and Sunderland West MP Sharon Hodgson has backed calls for the Government to reinstate protection for those suffering at the hands of a violent partner.

Click on this link to write to Theresa May, Home Secretary to help save Domestic Violence Protection Orders

Domestic Violence Protection Orders were enshrined in law in April, and due to be piloted over the summer before being rolled out to all police forces in England and Wales.

Under the ‘Go orders’, as they are known, senior police officers would have had the power to ban someone suspected of abusing a partner from their shared home for up to two weeks. They were designed to protect victims while enough evidence could be gathered to charge a suspect.

However, the new Home Secretary announced at the beginning of the month that the orders would not be trialled and could be scrapped altogether, sparking condemnation from Police, charities and politicians.

Mrs Hodgson has now thrown her support behind a campaign to save the scheme by adding her name to an open letter from Labour leadership candidate Ed Balls, calling on the Home Secretary to implement the scheme immediately.

Mrs Hodgson said: “These Go orders were put into law after extensive consultation with police and victim support organisations. They are not expensive to implement, and they would go a long way towards protecting thousands of vulnerable men, women and children across the country from abuse.”

“Quite why the Home Secretary feels that withdrawing this promise of support so welcomed by victims groups is a price worth paying to salami-slice her budget is beyond baffling.”

ENDS

Notes

1. The letter to the Home Secretary can be found here: http://action.edballs4labour.org/page/s/WritetoTheresaMay

2. The Domestic Violence Protection Orders are part of the Crime and Security Act 2010, which gained Royal Assent on 8 April 2010. The measures were not opposed by Conservatives at the time.