Pilot of new protective orders launched to ‘break the cycle of domestic abuse’

The Domestic Abuse Protective Orders (DAPOs) and Domestic Abuse Protection Notices (DAPNs) were first announced as part of the Domestic Abuse Act in 2021.

These protective measures are designed to offer immediate protection for victims of domestic abuse by placing restrictions on a perpetrator’s behaviour, including family courts being able to impose tagging on offenders in the most serious of cases.

The DAPOs and DAPNs are undergoing a year-long pilot with Greater Manchester Police, the Metropolitan Police Service and British Transport Police, with further pilots in Cleveland and North Wales early in 2025 before being rolled out nationally.

They offer a quick and effective way for police to intervene in situations where there is a risk of harm. They also help to prevent further incidents, even when there is not enough evidence for a criminal charge.

Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for domestic abuse, said they have long been aware of the limitations of existing protective orders, with victim-survivors and charities calling for a simplified and more effective process for obtaining a protective order that will be enforced if breached by a perpetrator.

“We know that enforcement has been inconsistent across the country, and the orders do not always go far enough to stop the abuse for happening,” she said.

“The new orders will adopt a case-by-case approach that takes the victims’ individual circumstances and needs into consideration, with longer-term, more robust safety measures.

“It’s an encouraging milestone in improving the protection available to victims when they report abuse.”

Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls Jess Phillips said: “More than two million people are estimated to have experienced domestic abuse in the last year – a number that is appalling, frightening and we are determined to change.

“That’s why one of our first acts to deliver against our ambitious manifesto pledge to halve violence against women and girls in a decade is to launch new, strengthened DAPOs. By bringing together the strongest elements of existing orders into a flexible order that covers all forms of domestic abuse and has no time limit, we’ll ensure more victims receive the robust protection they deserve.”

Women’s Aid said while it welcomes these protections, it has concerns over the implementation of these measures on the ground and the ability to ensure long-term safety for survivors of abuse through them.

Sophie Francis-Cansfield, head of Policy at Women’s Aid, said: “Existing protective orders, such as Non-Molestation Orders and Restraining Orders, have been criticised for not adequately protecting survivors from further harm, as while in theory they serve to safeguard, a lack of awareness, monitoring, and robust response to breaches, means that perpetrator are able to act with impunity even when these orders are in place.

“While Women’s Aid supports the criminalisation of breaching a DAPO, survivors need to be able to trust there will be accountability for this and prosecutions will be pursued.

“Consistency in how the police and wider justice system deal with these orders and breaches of them is required to ensure survivors will be protected by these measures.

Allowing parties other than survivors to make DAPO applications will help family members and friends in taking action to protect their loved ones but there is a risk that in doing so, survivors will lose their autonomy and voice. It is not an easy decision for survivors to flee abuse and it can be extremely difficult for them to stay gone.

“It must be their choice to go and take action against their perpetrator, so that they can feel empowered. This is especially true when they have lost their freedom in the relationship, through coercive control.

“This element of DAPOs must be promoted as a collaborative process and not as one that concerned family members and friends explore without the survivor’s input.”

Ms Francis-Cansfield said the nature of domestic abuse means that the abuse does not just end when the relationship does.

“In fact, leaving and post-separation can be the most dangerous time for a survivor, as perpetrators retaliate to losing control,” she said.

“The implementation of DAPNs, as a temporary measure while DAPOs can be obtained, will help to ensure that survivors are kept safe during the difficult post-separation period, if used properly.

“Specialist domestic abuse training for responding officers will be needed, so they can ensure they identify the situations where these preventative steps need to be taken.

“Giving family courts the ability to impose tagging on perpetrators will also help to mitigate the risk to safety that survivors experience in the post-separation period, but we would like some clarification on which cases are considered the most serious.

“There is concern that this tagging measure, along with the criminalisation of DAPO breaches, has the potential to lead to an over-surveillance, which we know disproportionately impacts black and minoritised communities, so we call on agencies to take steps through these pilots to ensure discrimination is rooted out from the start, to prevent any disparity from happening.”

Ms Francis-Cansfield added: These piloted measures do have the potential to protect women and children from abuse but only if properly implemented and monitored.

“We need to make sure that those who are responsible for these measures are properly trained on domestic abuse, so that they can effectively identify the cases where precautionary steps are needed, apply them consistently and work with local specialist services to ensure the survivors’ safety and needs are always prioritised.”

Ms Rolfe said the domestic abuse protection order pilots are “one of the many steps” policing is taking to make sure that every victim is heard, protected and empowered to seek help, whether from police or a support agency.

She said: “We have recently initiated the national roll-out of Rapid Video Response (RVR), a video call software that offers a discreet, quick and specialist police response to non-urgent reports of domestic abuse.

“The initiative was developed by Kent Police, where it has led to a decrease in the average response time from 32 hours to just three minutes, and a 50 per cent increase in arrests. By using a simple piece of technology, we are already seeing a hugely positive impact on the trust and confidence of victim-survivors.”

Ms Rolfe added: “After a victim reports domestic abuse, they must have confidence that they will be protected by the criminal justice system, which can be a long and complicated process that retraumatises victims. Many cases do not result in a criminal justice outcome because victims withdraw support for the process. We need to change that.

“Focusing on improving the timeliness of investigations to secure swifter justice for victims, we recently launched the Domestic Abuse Joint Justice Plan with the Crown Prosecution Service.

“The plan aims to improve the quality of investigations to ultimately charge more suspects in quicker time and provide a more joined-up approach to victim support as they journey through the criminal justice system.

“There is no one-size-fits-all approach to stopping domestic abuse. It is complex and woven into the tapestry of society. I have no doubt that the improvements we are making in policing will help to protect victims and tackle perpetrators, but we cannot move the needle alone.

“Domestic abuse can no longer be a crime that happens in secret, behind closed doors where a perpetrator can hide.

“There is a role for us all to play, and one of the most effective things we can do to help is prevent young people from developing the harmful behaviours that trigger a cycle of abuse in adulthood.”

During the trial, launched on Wednesday (November 27), only officers in the pilot forces will be able to apply for a DAPN or DAPO but they will be enforceable anywhere in England and Wales.

For example, if the recipient of a DAPO breaches a condition not to contact the victim while they are in a different part of the country, they may be arrested by the local force, even if not a pilot force.

The College of Policing has produced guidance for policing on the new protective orders and notices.

Assistant Chief Constable Tom Harding, director of Operational Standards at the College of Policing, said: “The new legal tools being piloted by the Home Office will help the police to protect victims and break the cycle of domestic abuse.

“More wide-ranging than Domestic Violence Protection Orders, Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Orders offer an effective way of protecting victims and can provide a series of robust conditions that perpetrators must follow, or face the prospect of arrest.”

If successful, DAPNs and DAPOs will replace Domestic Violence Protection Orders, and become the go-to protective order for domestic abuse cases. This will give police a tool that is more effective and provides longer-term protection to victims of domestic abuse and their children.