‘If you work with people, you work with victims of domestic abuse’

UNISON has marked the union’s role in helping to introduce new measures to help protect the victims of domestic violence, as it hosted a panel event on empowering victims and survivors of domestic abuse in the workplace. Part of last week’s Empowering Women in UNISON – Live!, the event was chaired by national women’s committee chair Emma Procter and featured powerful speeches from MP Jess Phillips (pictured), NEC member Pat Heron and the head of policy for the domestic abuse commissioner, Hannah Gousy. For Ms Phillips – the shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding – the event was an opportunity to celebrate her and UNISON’s recent joint success in introducing workplace protection measures to the domestic abuse bill. “Domestic abuse protection orders, or DAPOs, are a new tool that allow police and family courts to instigate an order that means a perpetrator, for a specific period, cannot go near a victim or her address. “Initially, they covered walking to work, but actually didn’t include the workplace. So we worked to amend the legislation.” And Ms Phillips continued: “The idea that women’s policy needs to extend to the workplace is something we have to remind people of. Furthermore, this specific issue was seen to be tricky and contentious because workplaces are where some people’s relationships start. So a perpetrator and a victim may be working together, and the government thought that issue was too difficult to touch.” She no...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article News domestic abuse empowering women - live! Source Type: news