Valerie's Law to support Black DV victims

[ArabellaScott]

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.'

Thank you for sharing, signed the petition.

Thanks, winterfire. I meant to say that there is a link to a video in the article that shows actors simulating dv scenes, some people might find it upsetting.

The campaign is run by SistahSpace.

I hope you will forgive my posting here, but I wanted to thank you for highlighting this. This was something I had not considered, but seems so bloody obvious now it's been pointed out.

Having read the government statement, it seems unimpressive shite to say the least. A lot of pleading that they give money to knowledgebable charities and very little about guaranteed training in the police themselves; the people who, ultimately, are leaving violent men free to attack desperate women.

I will be contacting my MP about this petition and the government's inadequate response.

Herja - everyone's welcome to post here. And yes, sourcing out issues like this to charities (who as we all know, can be policy captured by thoroughly anti women ideas) is no replacement for the police tackling violence against Black women and girls effectively.

Good god, they let me post here (mostly). You are very welcome, Herja!

Good idea to write to your MP. I need to read up on the shiny new law the gov seemed to think would address this issue.

Signed.

Thank you for sharing the article.

Signed

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

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

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

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

Thanks arabella

Very important subject

Same here snowdropsandcrocuses.

Thanks Arabella

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:

'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.

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'

'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.

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

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.

Thank you for explaining Arabella.

Signed.

Thanks for sharing this. Signed.

Thanks for posting. Really important.

Thanks. Will sign this.

Signed, thank you for bringing it to my attention.

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?