Work to help abused women 'goes on forever'

Work to support and empower women and children who have experienced domestic abuse "goes on forever", a charity boss says.

Kate Wright, from the charity Freeda [Free from Domestic Abuse], was speaking as the charity hosted a breakfast in Jersey ahead of International Women's Day.

She said: "Perpetrators continue to find new ways to commit their crimes, particularly online... so this is not a one-off project. This goes on forever."

At last year's event, Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham announced that he would be accepting all of the recommendations made in a report on violence against women and girls.

The UN theme for this year's event is: For ALL women and girls: Rights Equality & Empowerment.

Community and business leaders from Jersey and the UK have been talking about the challenges many women face and how difficult it could be, especially for women in minority communities, to make their voices heard.

Solicitor Harriet Wistrich, who helped bring a case against the London Metropolitan Police for their failures to investigate allegations against convicted taxi driver John Worboys, told BBC Radio Jersey, for many of the women involved, it was almost worse that police had not believed them.

She said: "Many, many women who had not reported him - because they did not think they would be believed - then came forward and it transpired that over 105 came forward to say they had been the victim of rape or serious sexual assault by this taxi driver.

"Had the police acted effectively at the beginning, had they pursued him, many of those women would never have been raped or sexually assaulted... in the first place."

There is hope that Jersey's government is taking the problem of domestic abuse seriously and that women, particularly in minority communities are finding their voice.

Lesley Katsande, from Friends of Africa, said: "Lets wait and see. The chief minister himself and the minister for home affairs, they did say they heard us, so, hopefully, they are going to go away and think about it and... implement those changes.

"I have to be hopeful. Acknowledgement is hopeful.

"However, we are waiting for the implementation. I am going to give the government the benefit of the doubt."

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