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After the successful launch of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in Greater Manchester, London and with the British Transport Police, victims in Cleveland can now apply to the court for stronger protection from all types of domestic abuse.
DAPOs impose exclusion zones through tagging and mandate attendance at behaviour change programmes. They can include physical, controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse and stalking. The provision for the orders is set out in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
Victims and their friends, families or support workers in the area can apply for a DAPO at Teesside Combined Court Centre. Police can also apply on their behalf for protection against abusers.
Making the announcement during National Domestic Abuse Awareness Week, the Minister for Victims and Violence Against Women and Girls, Alex Davies-Jones, said: “The evidence from Manchester and London is that DAPOs are working, and the rollout in Cleveland will provide more victims and families with the immediate protection they deserve from the vile abusers controlling their lives.”
Since the launch of the scheme in November, there have been multiple convictions for breach of an order with some perpetrators already in jail.
We know that the current protective order regime isn’t working – any victim will tell you that. But seeing the results of these new orders so far has shown they can properly safeguard and protect victims.
Making sure that this new system works safety, initially on a smaller scale, is paramount to delivering real change for victims as part of our mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.
Jess Phillips, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls.
The orders will be introduced across North Wales in April ahead of an expected national rollout. It forms part of the government’s commitment to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade.
Read more about Jess Phillips recent visit to Greater Manchester, where she met safeguarding specialists and saw how the DAPO scheme is operating.
