Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has announced the winners of this year’s Domestic Violence Awards – set up to recognise organisations working to reduce and prevent domestic violence – at a ceremony City Hall today.
Winners include Haringey, Newham, Barking and Dagenham and Waltham Forest councils, Sajjad Khan – Knights Solicitors, the Islington based Rights of Women voluntary organisation, Lewisham’s Alcohol Arrest Referral scheme, Barnet Service User Group, Womankind’s schools programme and the Cassandra Learning Centre.
Mr Livingstone said the awards “are about recognising those Londoners who are giving excellent support to those affected by domestic violence and tackling the causes and perpetrators of this hidden violence.”
“We don’t know what goes on behind closed doors, but we do know that far too many women suffer violence and live in fear. Few crimes are more damaging than domestic abuse; it destroys lives and tears families apart.”
“We are working to ensure that victims of domestic violence have safe choices and perpetrators are held to account for their behaviour. Over the next two years, a specialist service will be established in every London borough to make further reductions in the numbers of serious assaults and murders.”
According to figured from the Metropolitan Police there were 19 domestic violence murders in 2006 compared with 43 in 2003.
