Manchester Police is first in the UK to officially record LGBT domestic abuse
Starting today the Greater Manchester Police will be the first to officially record domestic abuse in the LGBT community.
Working with domestic abuse support service Independent Choices, the LGBT Foundation and specialist trainers, the Greater Manchester Police created crime-reporting code D66.
The force currently records domestic abuse under code D61 or D62 and sexuality is only reported when it is the motivation of a hate crime.
Officers have had extra training to raise awareness of the different needs of domestic abuse victims.
Detective Chief Inspector Myra Ball said, “This is a huge step forward in tackling domestic abuse specifically within the LGBT community here in Greater Manchester and our commitment to supporting all victims in the best way possible.”
The GMP recorded over 150 incidents of domestic abuse since the launch of the D66 trial in June.
The partnership of LGBT and domestic abuse charities as well as the GMP has funded a specialist LGBT Independent Domestic Violence Adviser (IDVA) at Independent Choices.
Manager at Independent Choices, Joanne Simpson said, “We are delighted that referrals to our new LGBT IDVA Service have bee coming through from GMP. This allows us to support people in the community who may have not reached out for help.”
The force will continue to work with the LGBT anti-violence charity Galop to understand the issues surrounding domestic abuse in the LGBT community in order to support victims and family members.
Nick Noone chief executive of Galop said, “Domestic Abuse does not discriminate, and neither should the reporting of domestic abuse. We hope the Greater Manchester Police’s D66 code will encourage other police forces to roll out similar schemes.”
The campaign that lead to the creation of D66 has announced ahead of the 2015 Manchester Pride Festival with the slogan “There’s no pride in domestic abuse.”
It is hoped that the new code will help reduce the stigma surrounding domestic abuse.
