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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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Original poster

Valerie's Law to support Black DV victims

31 replies

ArabellaScott · 17/09/2021 09:21

Article in the Guardian (sorry) today:

www.theguardian.com/society/2021/sep/15/police-urged-to-better-protect-black-women-who-face-domestic-abuse?fbclid=IwAR2_WZCFEG46-U3dYvoLkXHoFXQwLkKku3GJEXmrllZT2Hd5fYkp8KxwY0c

There is a petition for 'Valerie's Law', too, which I think I can't link to but is findable if you search the Gov petition site. It's already been debated, by the look of it. Text of petition:

'Make specialist training mandatory for all police and other government agencies that support black women and girls affected by domestic abuse. Police and agencies should have culturally appropriate training to better understand the cultural needs of black women affected by domestic abuse.

Too many African and Caribbean heritage women have not been afforded the same level of support that is offered to others. This can only be addressed by Cultural Competency training being rolled out across the police and other government agencies. Without specialised training, it is practically impossible to support, or risk assess black women. This often puts black victims at increased risk.'

OP posts:

Twelveshoes · 28/10/2021 23:04

How can we have mandatory training on this for the police when domestic abuse training isn’t mandatory for police officers?

Waitwhat23 · 28/10/2021 21:43

Bumping

BernardBlackMissesLangCleg · 19/09/2021 10:13

signed, thank you for sharing and drawing my attention to this. It made me think about things I hadn't considered before

Anotheruser02 · 19/09/2021 10:08

Signed. Thank you for sharing.

Waitwhat23 · 19/09/2021 09:56

From what I can tell, a Governmental department replied after the 10,000 mark and their response was deemed to not have answered the nature of the petition directly enough so they had to re-write and reword it.

Once the responses hit 100,000, it has to be put forward to be debated in Parliament. As I'm guessing that many politicians won't know about this petition or the circumstances behind it, this will bring it to a wider audience. The Government as a whole may well come back and say 'as we said in our response to the petition...' but if it's being debated then at least questions can be asked about the decisions made regarding how money has been allocated, if the decisions taken are far reaching enough etc.

I may be entirely wrong about this but it seems to be the way that petitions work - there's an autonomic response after 10,000 signatures and if the petition hits 100,000 signatures, there is obviously enough public feeling that it should be further discussed in Parliament.

Original poster

ArabellaScott · 19/09/2021 09:54

I shared mostly to raise awareness of the campaign for 'Valerie's Law', which is ongoing.

I understand that yes, if the petition gains 100k it will be debated. It's a third of the way there, and I would hope that a debate might hve better results than the current response - which I agree seems a bit of a brush-off. At least it will raise the profile of the campaign.

I have only just noted that the gov response is actually much longer than the first, definitely dismissive soundng para! You have to click to expand it. Have also just noted that the Home Office's response on the petition page had already been redrafted :

'This is a revised response. The Petitions Committee requested a response which more directly addressed the request of the petition. You can find the original response towards the bottom of the petition page'

OP posts:

midgemagneto · 19/09/2021 09:29

Can someone explain , what is the point if the government have already responded?

The response to me did seem a bit woolly , does that mean we need to get to 100,000 signatures to get it looked at again?

If so, can the petition text be modified to explain this , as I suspect people may see it as pointless to sign if the government has already responded?

BilboTheBurglar · 19/09/2021 09:29

Signed, thank you for bringing it to my attention.

OvaHere · 19/09/2021 09:28

Thanks. Will sign this.

FloralBunting · 19/09/2021 09:17

Thanks for posting. Really important.

Strugglingtodomybest · 19/09/2021 08:01

Thanks for sharing this. Signed.

BreadInCaptivity · 19/09/2021 03:03

Signed.

Dougalskeeper · 19/09/2021 02:47

Thank you for explaining Arabella.

nocoolnamesleft · 18/09/2021 23:50

Absolutely agree about the lack of training in appearance of injuries on darker skin. There's a new website about the appearance of rashes www.blackandbrownskin.co.uk/mindthegap but doesn't seem to cover bruises.

Waitwhat23 · 18/09/2021 23:41

Signed. I read what happened to Valerie Forde and Jahzara - truly horrific.

EmbarrassingAdmissions · 18/09/2021 23:18

'Black skin complexions vary across an extremely wide spectrum and because of that, not all Black people’s skin will bruise the same as their white counterparts. As such, bruises cannot be used as a benchmark of the scale of an injury or how violent a situation is.

The lack of understanding of the presentation of the marks of violence or skin conditions has far-reaching consequences:

www.theguardian.com/society/2020/aug/13/decolonising-dermatology-why-black-and-brown-skin-need-better-treatment

In addition to the relevant issues identified above there is a mass of re-education that needs to happen in several key organisations and systems.

Original poster

ArabellaScott · 18/09/2021 22:52

From the SistahSpace spokeswoman:

'“There is a lack of trust because the police are not taking black women who have been assaulted seriously. They are not always believed and there is a pervasive stereotype of black women being tough and not as in need of protection as white women.'

Also 'over-reliance on the appearance of physical injuries, which can be less obvious on dark skin.'

More info here: www.sistahspace.org/valerieslaw

Specifically:

Culturally, a threat can be communicated in a variety of ways in Black culture. Colloquially and contextually; the same words said amongst white communities can be and will be shown with very different intentions and received with very different understandings

Risk assessment questions should reflect the cultural environment of black women to better understand the danger they are facing

Common stereotyping and unconscious bias of Black people must be understood and learned so that it is not reflected in a service providers’ ability to help DV victims.

Distrust of police officers and government agencies within the Black community due to historic institutional racism that must be recognised and addressed'

OP posts:

ScreamingMeMe · 18/09/2021 21:29

Thanks Arabella

Dougalskeeper · 18/09/2021 21:15

Same here snowdropsandcrocuses.

RufustheBadgeringReindeer · 17/09/2021 13:37

Thanks arabella

Very important subject

snowdropsandcrocuses · 17/09/2021 13:36

I'm interested to know some of the differences for black women as opposed to white in relation to dv? Most of the awareness i have encountered (I work in the police) seems to be geared more towards vulnerability, children and cultural differences (usually religious). I haven't seen anything specifically geared to the differences for black women. But then I live in a very predominantly white area so likely underrepresented.

I am genuinely interested to hear what we should be looking for or understand

Original poster

ArabellaScott · 17/09/2021 10:51

Ah, fab, Nonny, I missed that too. Sorry. It's been a long week.

OP posts:

NonnyMouse1337 · 17/09/2021 10:26

Oh I've just realised the link to the petition is in the article. 🤦🏾‍♀️

NonnyMouse1337 · 17/09/2021 10:24

Thanks for posting this. Off to look for the petition.

Eyesofdisarray · 17/09/2021 10:24

Signed

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