n against women, making it the second most common violent crime. (Hague & Malos 1993). 100,000 women per year seek treatment on London for violent injuries received in the home (Punching Judy, BBC1 TV Programme 1989). 30,000 women and children stay in refuges in the UK every year; In Wolverhampton, 1 in 6 women had suffered some form of domestic abuse; One quarter of all assaults are in domestic circumstances (Domestic Violence Report of an Inter-Agency Working Party 1992). In Edinburgh Scotland out of 3020 cases of violence reported to the police, three quarters of those were wife assault. These figures from all over the country are only the reported cases of abuse. So we can see that domestic abuse makes up a very large proportion of what cases the police are dealing with. But how affective are the policies in place for victims and attackers at the moment. The Home Office issued a circular on Inter-Agency co-ordination on domestic violence in 1995. This was issued to relevant public agencies such as the police and social services. The recommendations included the need for refuge involvement in Inter-Agency co-ordination, which is widely accepted as essential. Refuges are at the forefront of domestic abuse. They are the ones who see what domestic abuse can do to a woman and her children first hand. They are uniquely able to monitor the impact of the entire policy framework (housing, benefits, civil and criminal law, police practice etc) on women and children in the middle of the war zone of domestic abuse. Inter-Agency projects involved many agencies including Womens Aid, other womens community organizations, police, local authority, probation, Crown prosecution, Victim Support, Health services and solicitors. In January 1995 there were at least 79 established inter agency projects that had been in existence for more than a year, at least 25 projects that were more or less established and had been in existence for more than 6 months,...
