Consulting Women Partners Moira Andrew, Domestic Violence Probation Project, Edinburgh The Edinburgh Domestic Violence Probation Project was set up in 1990. It is a re-education programme very similar to that described by Monica in the previous talk. Our guiding principal has been that in order to improve the safety of women, we work with men who have been convicted of an offence related to abuse of their partner. From the same principal, we have developed a process of consultation with partners that we feel both enhances the work of our programme and empowers those partners prepared to participate. Since 1990 we have consulted nearly 300 women. The following description of our consultation process and its purpose is therefore based on that experience. WHY CONSULT? Before I describe how this process takes place, I would like to comment on not only what I feel are the benefits of consulting a woman partner, both to the woman herself and to the Criminal Justice System but also on the impact of not consulting. Throughout today we have heard speakers define men's violence against their partners as one act in a continuum of controlling and abusive behaviours designed to maintain power over a woman partner. If challenged about their behaviour and asked to explain their actions, the most honest response would be something approaching "I was frightened she was going to get the better of me". Instead, the commonest explanation, as well as, "It wasn't that bad" and "It was the drink" is a description of his unreasonable partner who provoked him. As perpetrators are encouraged by their lawyers to ensure the presence of their partner in court, women often have to listen to a somewhat distorted version of events, and see the court as re-affirming their powerlessness. Again if a court is allowing a perpetrator to define his problem, the resultant sentence may reflect this. A sentence such as requiring a man to attend for alcohol counselling or anger management is a reasonable disposal if a court has only heard the perpetrator's explanation of his violence. Having personally consulted the majority of these 300 women during assessments, at a time when their partner has been convicted and is awaiting sentence, I have come to realise that in so many cases the assaults that result in conviction have a greater degree of significance than others. We know that the majority of assaults will go unreported. We also know that some women, having called the police then refuse to give a statement. Similarly, we know that a percentage of alleged offences are not prosecuted or are diverted. In our experience any case that reaches the stage of prosecution is for some reason significant and probably mostly to the victim. Here are a number of statements from women describing why this time they are involving the Court and how they hope it will respond. (1) "I spent a childhood watching my father hit my mother. When I married I told my husband if he ever hit me, I would get the police. This is the first time this man has ever hit me and it was important for me that I called the police". (2) "If my neighbour hadn't come when she did, I know I would have died. At first he was charged with Assault to Severe Injury, it's now down to Common Assault, but he and I both know he was trying to murder me". (3) "He's told me for years that the police would only laugh at a big woman like me saying I had been assaulted by him, and for years I believed him". So, if a Criminal Justice process does decide to consult women, how can this be done in a way that neither risks her safety nor does it jeopardise the process of justice. The process that we have devised is only one method and it has been constructed for a specific purpose but may be transferable to other parts of the justice process. HOW? The Edinburgh Domestic Violence Probation Project has two purposes in making contact with a partner. The first is to consult them at the stage when the man is being considered for the programme in order to get an accurate picture of his abuse and assess for risk, and the second is to seek the woman's co-operation in monitoring the offender's behaviour if he is made the subject of a Domestic Violence Probation Order. The procedure that we have developed was done so in consultation with Edinburgh and Lothian Women's Aid groups. When a man is facing sentence, having been convicted of an offence related to the abuse of a woman partner, and where the court has asked for a period of deferment for a Social Enquiry Report, either the Sheriff or the social worker writing the report can request the project staff to assess the man's suitability for our re-education programme. As well as interviewing the offender on his own, project staff and/or the author of the Social Enquiry Report will write to his partner requesting that she be interviewed on her own. The offender is informed that we will be attempting to make contact with his partner, or ex-partner, but no other information will be given to him directly about that contact. Some women will tell their partners that they have refused to speak to us but have in fact made contact in secret. The interview generally takes place within the woman's home but working from the principle that the project's intention is to increase the safety of women, we respond to requests to meet in other locations, eg the house of a friend. If the first principle of consultation with a woman is her safety, then the second must be to believe what she says. It is important to believe her, not only because we know that women too will, if anything, underplay rather than exaggerate the abuse, but also because some of the abuse levelled at women can be so extreme or perhaps bizarre in nature that part of a woman's reluctance to report it can often be because it appears so unbelievable. In the assessment interview we will of course, be asking for the woman's description of what happened during the assault that has led her partner to come to the attention of the court, but we will also be asking her to place this in a context of past abuse. By abuse we mean not only physical violence, but all the other tactics of control that are not seen as criminal acts. This can be a distressing interview for many women especially if for whatever reason, they too have attempted to minimise the extent of his behaviour. Often women have stated that they have never previously had the opportunity to tell someone within the Criminal Justice process the extent of the abuse without having to corroborate each individual act with physical evidence. The women are asked to complete a behaviour checklist that catalogues the types and frequency of tactics of control that have been used against them. This interview is also an opportunity to give factual information to a woman who perhaps has never previously reported the abuse or who may be using this period when her husband is either remanded in custody or bailed not to approach, to make plans to leave or reconsider the relationship. As the defence is entitled to have sight of all reports, often women interviewed at this stage will be too afraid to have details of their interviews quoted in any court report. As we make a promise to women that any information they give during the interview will be used only with their permission, more often than not our report will read that the partner has been consulted but no reference will ever be made to her statements. If the woman is afraid to have any reference made to her interview but is anxious that the court is aware of her partner's previous abuse, an alternative is to seek another agency to provide the information to the court. In Edinburgh we use the information gathered by the Divisional Domestic Violence Liaison Officers to lay before the court; for example, - the number of previous 'call outs' to this perpetrator's address to investigate abuse. Even if the women refuses permission for any reference to be made to her statements in the court report, her information will have added to the knowledge of that Criminal Justice social worker and will have influenced them in their selection of offence focused work. For men who are required to attend our programme, we ask their partners or ex-partners to act as a consultant throughout the life of his Order. Some women will have already separated but as there may still be ongoing contact with him, they see the value of acting as consultants. The men understand that this is a condition of their Probation Order. During the Order we would ask to meet the perpetrator's partner or ex-partner on two or three occasions throughout the first twelve month period, generally prior to each probation review, and ask her to comment on his continuing behaviour: again this information is always confidential. With the help of women whose partners have completed the programme we have constructed an evaluation form. Part of the evaluation form is a standard checklist of abusive actions with a frequency measurement; the remainder of the evaluation is designed by the woman herself. She is asked to define the negative attitudes of her partner that she most feels are at the root of his abuse. She is then asked to name an ideal positive attitude, thereby constructing her own personal continuum on which she can evaluate his behaviour.  Example: Negative Attitude/Desired attitude Treats me as if I’m his mother /Treats me with respect, as an equal Score -3     -2     -1                          0                         +1     +2     +3 The project staff do not make any other demands on partners, but leave the option open for them to make contact with staff at any time. Some partners of men in the programme will take the opportunity of keeping a telephone link with the staff and informing them of the men's continued behaviour, either abusive or of positive changes. As well as playing a valuable role in the evaluation of the man's progress, we asked women to comment on the programme itself, as sadly they have had to become highly knowledgeable consultants in the field of domestic violence. Who better to ask? To sum up, provided that the safety of women is a guiding principal, consultation can be empowering for the women concerned, can increase the awareness and understanding of a court, can assist a court in its risk assessment and selection of the best possible disposal, and is indispensable for workers doing offence-focused work with perpetrators.                  A charitable company limited by guarantee registered in Scotland No 183989             Scottish Charity No SCO18322          CHANGE acknowledges funding from the Scottish Executive