A new law to protect suspected domestic violence victims has been introduced in certain areas of Lancashire.
The Domestic Violence Protection Orders - brought into Salford, Bolton and North Manchester - will allow police to remove those suspected of domestic violence from certain addresses for up to four weeks.
The four-week period will allow victims of this alleged assaults time to decide whether or not they want to seek further help from either police officers or divorce solicitors. The orders will be used in cases where police are worried about a domestic violence situation but don't have enough evidence to issue a criminal charge.
Furthermore, This Is Lancashire reports that anyone breaching the order can be fined up to £50 a day or jailed for two months.
Orders such as these have already proved relatively successful in Oldham and other areas of Manchester, where 23 have been issued since June. Local counsellor, David Lancaster, is confident they'll be just as successful in Lancashire.
He recently told The Manchester Evening News that they will help prevent repeated cases of domestic violence.
Lancaster said: "In Salford, we work very hard to tackle the problem of domestic abuse, with all agencies involved working closely together. Being able to make referrals in this way will help council staff and voluntary agencies work even closer with the police, and ultimately offer more protection to victims."
written by Joe Elvin on October 13th 2011
