Ministers have been accused of misleading and insulting victims after a cross-party group of peers abandoned a push to create an automatic register of dangerous domestic abusers and stalkers.
The domestic abuse bill is expected to receive royal assent this week, four years after it was announced in the Queen’s speech. But it will not include a specific stalkers’ register, despite briefings from the government after the death of Sarah Everard that it was likely to support such a measure.
Instead, after sustained pressure from cross-party MPs and peers, the government promised to improve statutory guidance around the current system for monitoring high-risk criminals to better include serial stalkers and domestic abusers.
New guidance around multi-agency public protection arrangements (Mappa), will now include sections on domestic abuse and stalking, a Home Office spokesperson confirmed.
But the government has come under fire for resisting the move by MPs, peers and campaigners, and for voting against a previous amendment to the domestic abuse bill that would have automatically placed serial offenders on the current violent and sex offender register (Visor).
That’s too bad this didn’t happen. The victims have the right to feel insulted. The government is telling them their safety isn’t important.
I’m willing to wage this didn’t pass because it would’ve greatly affected many people close to these politicians, perhaps themselves directly. Many people don’t realize how widespread and consistent domestic abuse is and a registry would snag way more people than the SOR does. It’s likely why it won’t make it here in Michigan as well; half the police force would end up on the domestic abuse registry.
In New York it didn’t pass either. Only sex registry 😂😂😂🤷🏻♂️ What a shame.