Greater Manchester Police first force to record LGBT domestic abuse
GMP has received up to 775 incidents reported
By Steve Brown
Greater Manchester Police has become the first force in the country to record LGBT domestic abuse.
Last year, the force launched a new initiative – which was first piloted in the City of Manchester Borough – and resulted in more than 775 incidents being logged by police.
Now, GMP has been working to ensure officers are able to support anyone affected by domestic abuse and have been providing extra training to their officers.
Detective Superintendent Denise Worth, from GMP, said: “These figures are a positive step in supporting victims and ensuring they are signposted to the right services that are then able to provide appropriate care.
“The D66 coding is a simple process which enables us to identify the community affected and provide local authorities withy latest figures which allows them to commission relevant services to support victims.
“Our findings and processes have also been shared nationally and we hope this will assist other forces in adopting their own practices to help those victims.”
They are also working with its partnership with the national LGBT domestic abuse helpline at Galop to understand the issues surrounding the abuse in the community.
They also hope that it will encourage victims and friends and family of victims to report the issue and have the confidence to come forward.
Peter Kelley Head of Domestic Abuse Service at Galop said: “Every day staff at our National LGBT Domestic Abuse Helpline are contacted by LGBT+ people looking for help and support with domestic abuse and violence.
“It’s really important that victims and survivors get the help they need without facing additional barriers because of their sexuality and gender identity.
“Galop fully supports the continued efforts of Greater Manchester Police to increase the number of LGBT+ people reporting domestic abuse through the D66 initiative and we hope that its success over the last year will encourage other police forces across the UK to adopt similar initiatives.”