Raneem's Law: A Groundbreaking Step Towards Tackling Violence and Abuse.

On 20^th September 2024, the Home Office announced new measures aimed at improving their response to domestic violence within the Police. These measures form part of Raneem’s Law, a legislation announced in response to the failures leading up to the tragic murder of Raneem Oudeh, and her mother, by Raneem’s ex-partner.

Raneem had called the Police four times the night she and her Mother were killed. It transpired that Raneem had called the Police 14 times in the months up to her death, reporting incidents of domestic abuse, including threats to kill, violence and stalking, but these were not logged or assessed correctly, and were not followed up.

Raneem’s law includes a pilot scheme in which domestic abuse specialists will be embedded in 999 controls rooms from early 2025, to ensure victims get specialist support straight away. The specialists will advise the Police on risk assessment and work with officers on the ground. They will also have a team assisting them to improve how the Police respond to domestic violence calls.

Nearly 100 domestic abuse related offences were recorded by the police every hour on average in 2023. This initiative is part of the Governments pledge to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade. As part of the initiative, from November 2024, more domestic abusers will be ordered to stay away from their victims and, perpetrators will face tougher sanctions if they fail to do so through another pilot scheme, Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DVPO).

The pilot also seeks to address the technology and communication failings that leave persons at risk. Forces will have to provide data on Police applications for civil orders such as Domestic Violence Protection Notice (DVPN) and Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPO), to the National Police Chief’s council and the Home Office. It will also push forward the national rollout of an electronic link between the Family Courts and Police forces so that civil orders and injunctions are widely shared.

The embedding of domestic abuse specialists in 99 control rooms, is a groundbreaking part of Raneem’s Law. The trained professionals, assessing risks in real time, ensuring that when victims call for help, they are met with a swift and informed response. Raneem (and like many others) was failed. The role of these specialists will be to ensure that such failures do not happen again.

If you or anyone you know is being subjected to any form of domestic abuse, please contact the Domestic Violence and Abuse Department (DVAD) for expert advice as to what protective measures are available, either by clicking on the links, or by telephoning Johnson Astills on 0116 255 4855.