Plymouth Community Homes (PCH) is committed to supporting the 16 Days of Action Against Domestic Abuse campaign which takes place on 25 November, running through to 10 December.
Our main aim for this year’s campaign is to raise awareness about domestic abuse across the South West, with a focus that it affects all genders, ages, ethnicities and sexualities.
According to the latest release of the ‘Domestic abuse in England and Wales overview: November 2022’, the Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated that 6.9% women and 3.0% men aged 16 or over experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2022.
This equates to 1.7 million women and 699,000 men experiencing domestic abuse.
Within the city of Plymouth, domestic abuse accounts for approximately 27% of all violent crime compared to a national figure of 16% (Plymouth City Council Commissioning Plan for the Plymouth Domestic Abuse Partnership 2012 – 2019). In 2021, there were 6,933 domestic abuse crimes and incidents reported to the police, an increase of 21% on the previous year.
This year, Trevi are leading a city-wide campaign to raise awareness of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), which is a prevalent problem in Plymouth. We are supporting our partners across the city, including Plymouth City Council, Devon and Cornwall Police and other charitable organisations to amplify their campaign message.
In light of their campaign, Plymouth City Council have also created a specific webpage to support this year’s ‘16 Days of Activism’, encouraging organisations, businesses, charities and those living in the city to stand up and say ‘Enough’ to Violence Against Women and Girls.
Devon and Cornwall Police and Plymouth City Bus are also launching their own outdoor media campaign focusing on Bystander Interventions which will be located on buses/at bus stops and local charity First Light are running a campaign #Pledge4Change during the 16 days.
On 7 December, Plymouth will be launching its Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (DASV) Strategy and Action Plan. Supported by Plymouth City Council officers, the multi-agency partnership set up to address DASV and VAWG recently refreshed its vision, mission, values and strategic objectives.
Other national events also take place during the 16 days, including White Ribbon Day and International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women which is on day one as well as Human Rights Day which is on day 16 of the campaign.
The Public Health England backed campaign aims to bring the conversation about domestic abuse to the table – through staff training we can ask our housing officers and repairs staff to spot the signs of abuse in our homes.
To find out more information about our approach to domestic abuse, how you can stay in your home, or where to turn if you need to get away visit our specific domestic abuse section.
Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance Accreditation
Plymouth Community Homes is committed to achieving the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) Accreditation, which will showcase our dedication to embedding the standards of good practice for responding to domestic abuse within the organisation and beyond.
PCH has an internal steering group with representatives from different departments across the organisation who lead on providing necessary domestic abuse support and guidance to residents and staff. The group has been collaborating to work towards the UK benchmark for how housing providers should respond to cases of domestic abuse and over the next few months we are entering into the next milestone of this journey to achieve our certification.
Throughout the 16 days, staff members from the internal steering group will be attending and joining online and public events to represent our residents and staff in the city. We are committed to supporting and informing our tenants and staff on relevant and up to date information about domestic abuse.
Over the next 16 days, we will be sharing information about domestic abuse, and pledge our support.
