British government believes that an important tool, which it has been using for 15 years, actually does not work
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Center), at a June meeting of his cabinet, photo: © NO10 Crown Copyright / Eyevine / Profimedia
A British minister said Monday that an instrument to assess the risk of marital violence, used for over 15 years by police forces, social services and medical staff to evaluate the danger faced by the victims, “does not work”, reports Reuters.
Asked by the BBC if there will be a different version of DASH (“Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Honour-Based Violence Assessment”-assessment on domestic violence, harassment and violence based on honor), Minister of Victim Protection, Jess Phillips, said that “obvious problems with risk assessment”.
“My intuition is that the instrument does not work, but until I can replace it with something that really works, we have to use the system we have best.”
Reuters reported this month that many people who were to be reported by Dash to be in danger of risk were ignored. The press agency also discussed with mothers of young people who, despite clear alarm signals, were framed by Dash at medium risk and were later killed by their partners.
And other countries use tools like the one used by the UK
The UK is not alone in the use of structured risk assessment tools to guide the answers in cases of domestic violence. Such tools are also used in Canada, Australia, Spain and the United States, where their efficiency has also been questioned.
Some experts and activists, including those from Safelives – the charitable organization against domestic violence who participated in the creation of the British form – believes that the problem does not consist mainly in Dash, but in the deficient way it is used by the police. Others claim that its addiction to “yes” or “no” type responses and the lack of predictability are to blame.
Usually, victims must be classified at high risk, not medium or standard, to be sent to additional support, coordinated between several agencies.
British government has had an investigation
Retiring what the director of Safelives, Ellen Miller, Ministra Phillips said that Dash users should be trained to acknowledge that the risk is dynamic.
Săfelives offers training for DASH, which some critics consider a conflict of interest in defending the instrument. However, Miller rejected this concern, saying that the organization does not treat Dash as a major source of income.
The London Ministry of Interior has charged Safelives to carry out a project to examine how the risks are identified, evaluated and managed, according to a letter consulted by Reuters.
Miller described this initiative as a first step to explore the potential of a wider evaluation and asked the Government to lead an analysis of the entire risk response system, including a review of the DASH evolution.
