Domestic abuse support referrals in North Yorkshire and York have risen significantly during the lockdowns – with the number of requests for help increasing by 80%.
Jenni Newberry is the head of commissioning at the office of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner she says there have been an extra four thousand referrals in the last year.
Jenni Newberry says people have tended to need more intensive support during the pandemic because of issues including court delays and the need to spend more time with the perpetrator of the abuse because of lockdown.
Jenni says the increase in calls has been significant.
Jenni Newberry said advisors have seen their average caseloads increase significantly from 56 clients in April 2020 to 76 in April 2021.
Extra funding from the Ministry of Justice has enabled the service to employ more domestic abuse advisors and Jenni added:
“We are relatively confident that we can manage these increased volumes of caseloads moving forward, but obviously there’s pressure on the system.
“We have seen [advisors] hand notice in and there are only so many trained and ready to begin service.”
There was an increase in children committing offences against parents during lockdown, North Yorkshire Police detective superintendent Allan Harder said.
He said one reason was that children wanted to leave home when restrictions were in place and this led to arguments and added:
“Throughout Covid we have remained engaged and proactive to support victims of domestic abuse. We have worked with partners to deliver consistent services,”
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