‘Why abused women need more than refuges’

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/29/abused-women-more-than-refuges-diana-barran

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Diana Barran is not the boastful type but she does feel gratified to have made a measurable difference to the lives of domestic violence victims. She set up Caada (Co-ordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse) on her kitchen table a decade ago. As it marks its 10th anniversary, she talks of at least 64,000 high-risk adult cases and over 83,500 associated child cases that the work of the charity has helped and supported.

Barran, 55, a successful hedge fund manager, first learned about domestic abuse when she begun working with New Philanthropy Capital – an organisation that advises wealthy individuals on which charities to donate to. “Like so many people leading sheltered lives, I was unaware of the anguish of women’s lives all around me,” she says.

As part of her research for NPC, she took a forensic look at how domestic violence was being handled and decided there was a fundamental failing. Although police, A&E departments, social workers, midwives, housing officers and refuges were seeing victims individually, they were not communicating with each other and so what they offered in the way of help was very limited. “I found myself wondering how it would be if I had to pile my possessions into a black plastic bag and escape extreme physical danger at home, with my four children,” she says. The question that kept coming to her was: “if I were one of those women, what would I want and need to keep me safe?”

Caada initiated multi-agency risk assessment conferences (marac), which – although she is too self-effacing to say so herself – has transformed the way domestic abuse is tackled. Marac has been adopted as a Home Office model and there an now 270 maracs across the UK. Barran describes how they work: “For example, a police officer had seen a woman seven times but she had always refused to give a statement. He said this at the marac and the nurse found the dates tallied exactly with the nights she had gone to hospital. The housing officer then helped work out somewhere safe for the woman to be. Because they were learning all this, the police knew that the woman was being beaten and could act on that if necessary. The nurse knew how to make contact with the woman’s independent domestic violence adviser (IDVA) if the woman came to hospital again. Together the team drew up a co-ordinated action plan to support that victim in future.”

Barran also piloted accredited training for IDVAs – a named, professional case worker for a domestic abuse victim – bringing together legal knowledge, housing law, immigration, risk assessment, how to engage with vulnerable people and work with partner agencies who had not necessarily seen domestic violence as a major issue. There are now around 480 qualified IDVAs working with the highest risk victims of domestic abuse. The largest study on the provision and impact of IDVA services, co-authored by Barran, found that 57% of victims supported by an IDVA experience a complete or near cessation in the abuse they were suffering after four months of contact.

Yet, not everyone was thrilled by Barran’s approach to tackling domestic abuse in the early days. She was challenging conventional wisdom that grassroots activism and refuges were the answer. “I thought we needed to create a robust plan of action that would safeguard abused women in a variety of ways. That professionalism and consistency were needed. Refuges are valuable, but many women do not want to leave home.”

More recently, critics in the women’s movement have expressed disquiet that Caada does not support ethnic minority or younger women well enough. Barran swiftly points to Dash (domestic abuse, stalking and “honour”-based violence ) a risk identification checklist available in 14 languages created by her charity with input from specialist organisations.

Caada has also set up a new partnership programme in response to the recent change to the definition of domestic abuse to include 16-17 year-olds in England. And it is collaborating with Barnardo’s and other organisations helping people aged as young as 13, who are experiencing a range of partner abuse. This two-year programme, funded by the Department for Education, was launched last year. Half of Caada’s funding comes from government, and half from charitable foundations and fees charged for training and advice. Its Home Office grant was cut by 25% four years ago and Barran is concerned that the DfE grant will not be renewed in 2015, despite the enormous need for help for abused young people.

Barran welcomes government plans to introduce a new criminal offence of domestic abuse to include emotional and psychological harm “Criminalising such coercive control may help to plant in the police’s mind that they should always be looking for a pattern of abusive behaviour that needs to be understood as a continuum, not a single incident,” she says.

Caada’s goal is to halve the 100,000 high-risk victims of domestic abuse and the 130,000 children living with high-risk domestic abuse. This is only possible through work with serial perpetrators and particularly young men, in order to stop a lifetime of abusive behaviour, says Barren. She also wants health service practitioners and schools to identify women and children at risk of abuse before they call the police, to halve the time it takes for them to get effective help. “So yes, it feels good, to have done something to help,” says Barran. “But it is certainly not enough.”

Curriculum vitae

Age 55.

Lives Bath.

Family Married, four children.

Education Benenden school, Kent; King’s College, Cambridge University, BA history.

Career 2004-present: founder/chief executive, Caada; 2001-04: donor adviser and head of grant development, NPC; 2001: director of research, Beaumont Capital Management Ltd; 1992-2000: chief executive/chairman/co-founder, European Hedge Fund, Barran and Partners Ltd; 1990-92: chief executive and head of European investments, Enskilda Asset Management; 1985-90: head of European equity research, Enskilda Securities, London and Paris; 1983-85: fund manager, Europe, Lombard Odier International; 1980-83: analyst/fund manager, Europe, Morgan Grenfell Ltd.

Public life trustee, Comic Relief; Henry Smith Charity. 2011 awarded MBE for work to protect domestic abuse victims.

Interests Yoga, sailing and family.