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<p>This Government is committed to protecting all victims of domestic abuse and is
working in partnership with police forces across England and Wales to keep victims
safe.</p><p>The police have measures at their disposal to protect victims of domestic
abuse during a police investigation. These include pre-charge bail conditions and
protective orders such as Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPO). Following an
incident of violence, or the threat of violence, the police can apply for a Domestic
Violence Protection Notice (DVPN) to provide immediate protection to the victim for
48 hours by, for example, prohibiting the person subject to the notice from contacting
the victim. The DVPN is then followed by a DVPO in a magistrate’s court.</p><p>In
the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, the Government committed to launching a new Domestic
Abuse Protection Notice and Order, to be piloted from next year. These will go even
further in protecting victims from all forms of domestic abuse. This will include
making a breach of a new order a criminal offence and having no minimum or maximum
duration. The Government is currently undergoing extensive work to prepare the new
order for piloting from next year.</p><p> </p><p>To strengthen the police response
to cases of domestic abuse and help domestic abuse victims and survivors, the Government
also committed in the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan up to £3.3 million over three years
to support the rollout of the Domestic Abuse Matters training, to forces which have
yet to deliver it, or do not have their own specific domestic abuse training. This
training developed by the College of Policing in conjunction with SafeLives and with
input from Women’s Aid, aims to ensure the police know how to best respond to victims
of domestic abuse, understanding its impact on victims, and standardises the police
response to domestic abuse.</p><p> </p><p>We continue to work closely with the College
to encourage the remaining forces to take up the Domestic Abuse Matters programme.</p><p>
</p><p>The Home Office is also planning to double funding for survivors of sexual
violence and the National Domestic Abuse Helpline by 2024-25, and further increase
funding for all the national helplines it supports. Our Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan
invests £140 million to support victims, including over £47 million in ringfenced
funding for victims’ services and £27 million is currently ringfenced funding for
700 ISVAs and IDVAs.</p>
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