1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men suffer domestic abuse at some point in their lifetime. As domestic abuse is talked about more and more, these are fast becoming well known statistics.

In this county alone, there were approximately 10,000 incidents of domestic abuse last year. Given that reported incidents are thought to make up only 35% of actual instances of abuse, this means that as many as 28,500 people could have been victims of domestic abuse in Northamptonshire during this time.

Potentially this also means that over 18,000 people suffered in silence.

In response to this startling reality, Northamptonshire Domestic Abuse Forum (NorDAF) has followed its strategy for 2006 to 2009 with a new three-year strategy, which sets out work for the next three years focusing on five main themes; Victims, Children, Offenders, Communication and Honour-Based Violence. Each theme has been adopted by a sponsor (nominated representative from a relevant agency or organisation), who leads a working group to focus on the priorities arising from the area of work. This has enabled partners to contribute to specific work relevant to their organisation and work towards shared goals.

Who are the partners of NorDAF?

The Northamptonshire Domestic Abuse Forum is made up of dedicated partners from both the statutory and voluntary sector around the county and members include the Police, the Sunflower Centres, Women's Aid, Victim Support, Nene Valley Christian Family Refuge, Northamptonshire County Council, Crown Prosecution Service, Probation Service, local district and borough councils, Relate, the Council for Ethnic Minority Communities, the Countywide Travellers Unit, NSPCC, Connexions and CAN. We are always recruiting new members who can play a valuable role in our work on domestic abuse. If you and your organisation would like to be involved in any of the areas of work that we focus on then please do get in contact (details below).

How does NorDAF fit in with the LAA?

As part of the Local Area Agreement, the Safer and Stronger Communities Board (SSCB) identified domestic abuse as one of its priorities. In response to this, the Northamptonshire Domestic Abuse Forum has agreed to champion this priority by being the responsible working group for this work and providing an integrated approach to domestic abuse services within the county.

How does NorDAF fit in with other county partnerships?

NorDAF has links with other county partnerships such as the Local Criminal Justice Board, the Local Safeguarding Children's Board, the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships, local domestic abuse fora across the county and the Family Support Forum to ensure that we take a joined up approach to overlapping areas of work that are necessarily a part of the complex issue of domestic abuse. If you are aware or part of any partnership working that NorDAF could usefully feed into, then please do let us know (contact details below).

Dr Rachel Duncan rduncan@northamptonshire.gov.uk