Hundreds of Cases of Domestic Abuse Tackled Thanks to New Centre

A new project to reduce domestic abuse across the county has already begun helping hundreds of people.

More than 230 referrals have been made to the Chrysalis Centre which works across Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

The centre brings together a range of professionals from health care, criminal justice and behavioural change experts to introduce clinical and behavioural support to prevent abuse.

Interventions are available to anyone who causes harm and is a resident of the two counties, regardless of sex, age or risk level. It is open to self-referrals as well as to individuals or families recommended for help by organisations such as the police, care workers and medical staff.

The Chrysalis Centre was set up in the autumn of last year following a successful joint bid by the offices of Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

Hertfordshire PCC David Lloyd pledged final funding of £300,000 from his Community Safety and Criminal Justice budget to enable the project to run over the next two years.

There has also been additional £1.2m in pledged funding in cash and kind from Hertfordshire Constabulary and multiple local authority partners including Hertfordshire County Council.

The Chrysalis Centre operates as an intervention hub to work with domestic abuse perpetrators to prevent or break the cycle of their behaviour. This offending type can include spousal abuse, as well as abuse against children and parents.

Mr Lloyd said: ‘It is great to see the Chrysalis Centre is already putting into place plans for hundreds of people to prevent domestic violence.

‘This new ambitious service is aiming to reduce the number of victims in our county. The Chrysalis Centre are working with perpetrators to intervene and act before any harm is done. This is part of Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Prevention First strategy which aims to put in place policies to tackle the root causes of crime.

‘I look forward to seeing how the project develops and will be monitoring how it is reducing crime and harm and making Hertfordshire safer.’

Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Gilbertson said: ‘It is encouraging to see so many people in Hertfordshire making use of the free Chrysalis Centre project designed to prevent domestic abuse offending escalating. We have been encouraging our officers to signpost people at risk of abusing their spouses or children to the project, as part of our commitment to tackling violence against women and girls.’

The project is mostly being funded from a £39m Home Office scheme which will see 50 projects rolled out nationally over the next two years, supporting initiatives to stop abusers from repeatedly targeting victims and terrorising vulnerable people.

Many domestic abusers are repeat offenders with 83% of male offenders repeating their offences within a six-month period. This makes intervening to stop their pattern of behaviour paramount to protect victims.

The Chrysalis Centre is now open for referrals, including self-referrals, and more details can be found at chrysaliscentre.net.