Around one million women are victims of domestic violence at least once a year (that’s just shy of 1 in 60!) according to the British Crime Survey statistics outlined in the BBC’s recent report on a new Government scheme aimed at stamping out domestic violence at a grassroots level (source).
According to the report every school pupil from the age of five in England as part of the curriculum will be taught that domestic violence is unacceptable under new plans coming in to force in 2011. Under the plans children will be taught about gender equality and how to prevent violent relationships as part of the reformed curriculum in the statutory Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) lessons. Trainee teachers will have to be have to learn about teaching the new curriculum before being able to qualify.
The report details that the move has been welcomed by charity Refugee who are urging people to speak out against domestic violence, and Prime Minister Gorden Brown stating violence against women and girls is “an obscenity.”
The report goes on to mention that more than £13m is being provided to help the victims of domestic violence through varying actions by the Police, NHS, government and local authorities. Also according to the report there are apparent difficulties in women being able to access the required services in the UK if they have been involved in domestic violence. The aim of the new scheme is to educate children at a young age as a preventative measure, in the sense of the way a younger person can be educated differently to that of a 15 or 16 year old.
Of course the scheme has not so far gone without criticism, with accusations that the government is interfering with how parents are raising their children.
All forms of violence, perhaps domestic violence in particular given the nature and relationships of those involved, can be a harrowing and traumatic experience for the victims. It is unfortunate that domestic violence not only exists, but can lead to potentially serious injuries and more tragically, even death. The process for a victim in ‘moving on’ in the aftermath of such events can also be a difficult and lengthy process.
As well as support being available for the victims of such incidents, there is legislation in place for victims of all forms of premeditated violence to be compensated appropriately for their suffering. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) pays our damages to the victims of premeditated violence to provide them with the compensation they are legally entitled to. Compensation can be awarded for psychological trauma suffered from incidents of violence as well.
If you have been involved in such an incident, we suggest that you speak with an independent expert personal injury solicitor and get the advice as to where you stand. A specialist solicitor is well placed to represent you in the process for claiming compensation; however you can claim through the CICA without a solicitor involved. Unfortunately solicitors are unable to recover their fees from the CICA and regrettably must charge the client a percentage of their damages.
The benefits of legal representation are that an expert personal injury solicitor can maximise the compensation you are entitled to and provide you with a service that can speed up the process. More often than not, the benefits of having a specialist solicitor outweigh those of doing it alone.
But the choice is yours! And there are a lot of solicitors who will not tell you that you can claim without representation; they’d much rather deceive you in to thinking having a solicitor is the only way …
We here at The Injury Lawyers prefer to be honest with people!
But ensure to seek plenty of advice first! And make sure the advice you get is the right and honest advice, and that any solicitor you instruct has your best interests at heart.
