Behind Closed Doors

Yesterday, I attended a morning meeting sponsored by Pupil Parent Partnership on domestic violence in multi-cultural Britain. The meeting was chaired by Amelia Hill of The Guardian; panelists included Virendra Sharma (MP and Councillor for Ealing Southall), Samantha Darby (Domestic Violence, Interpersonal Violence: Policy & Deliverance Team at the Home Office), and Gill Jesson (Director of Part Time Services, Pupil Parent Partnership). The purpose of the meeting was to bring well-informed individuals, especially DV practitioners, together to discuss these difficult issues. We discussed the role of the police and the judicial system, how to work with perpetrators, how to break the cycle of violence, and how to reach out to all communities while understanding the specific needs of those communities and of individual women. This is not just about different ethnic communities, but also about reaching LGBT women, disabled women, and domestic workers (as they usually have no recourse to public funds).