International
Visit: September 2006 |
Members
of staff from the Crisis Centre "Ekaterina",
along with senior personnel from the law enforcement agenicies of
the Sverdlovsk area, travelled
to England in September 2006 in order to learn more about the way
in which women affected by domestic violence are supported when taking
their cases through the Criminal Justice System (CJS) in England
and
Wales. |
| Russian Delegates |
The
Russian delegation consisted of seven people, as listed below:
- Luidmilla
Ermakova - Director
and Founder of "Ekaterina"; Chair of the Board of the Coalition
of the Crisis Centres of the Sverdlovsk Area
- Olga Selkova - Deputy
Director and Psychologist, "Ekaterina"
- Ekaterina
Ermakova - Training
Co-ordinator, "Ekaterina"
- Natalia
Sukhareva - Chair
of the Board of the Guild of Lawyers of the Sverdlovsk Area; Chair of
the Executive Committee of the Urals Inter-regional Association of Solicitors
- Sergei
Mochalin - Assistant
Chief Executive of the Public Safety Police Section of the Department
of Internal Affiars of the Sverdlovsk Region; Police Colonel; Project
Consultant
- Tatiana
Balandina - Assistant
Chief Executive of the Regional Magistrates' Court of the Sverdlovsk
Region
- Natalia
Gaidarzhiskaya - Deputy
Assistant to the Chief Executive of the Regional Magistrates' Court;
Domestic Violence Trainer; Project Researcher
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to read more:
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The
Russian Delegates outside the Home Office, London
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Monday 4th September 2006
The Home Office
The
Russian delegates’ first meeting was with John Dunworth, Head
of the Domestic Violence Team and Domestic Violence Virtual Office
at The Home Office. The Russian party was amazed by the fact that
in the UK, we have a specific team to tackle the crime of domestic
violence (DV)! John Dunworth outlined the various approaches and
specific policies utilised by the Home Office in the fight against
DV. The topics covered included strategic priorities, government
agenda, the National Domestic Violence Delivery Plan and its key
outcomes and work objectives, the Specialist Domestic Violence Courts,
Independent Domestic Violence Advocates and the Co-ordinated Community
Response. His informative talk prompted a number of questions from
both the Russian and the English parties, which were answered very
helpfully. The meeting emphasised to the Russian delegates the seriousness
with which the UK government is taking this problem, and will add
weight to their campaigns back in Russia.
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Meeting
at the Home Office, London
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The Foreign
Office
In
the afternoon, the party travelled to the Foreign Office,
where they met with Shane Jones (Russian Section), and his
colleagues
Damion Potter (Head of Russian Section) and Trudi Kennedy
(Human Rights, Democracy and Governance Group). The UK’s funding
of projects to promote human rights abroad - especially the collaboration
between the UK government and NGOs – highlighted the
firm line which the government is taking against DV internationally.
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The
Delegates outside the Foreign Office, with Shane Jones |
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Tuesday
5th September 2006
Wolverhampton
Magistrates' Court
The
delegation visisted Wolverhampton Magistrates' Court, where Gaynor
Hollis (Senior Legal Advisor) gave the visitors a tour of the building.
She then introduced them to a number of legal personnel who had been
involved in the Specialist Domestic Violence Courts (SDVCs), including
John Griffin (Clerk to the Justices for the Black Country), Chris
Woodrow (Court Centre Manager Wolverhampton Magistrates Court), John
Coulson (Legal Team Manager Wolverhampton), Mrs Eileen Edbury, (Justice
of the Peace and Chairman of the Black Country Family Panel), Mrs
Jan Fellows (Justice of the Peace). After observing three courts
in progress, including the SDVC, the visiting party listened to a
presentation on the development of SDVCs and a second one on the
history of the magistracy. The Russians found the visit to be highly
informative, and regretted that they were unable to observe more
of the working of the courts.
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Wolverhampton
Magistrates' Court
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Wolverhampton City Council
A
number of leading members of Wolverhampton City Council, along with Rob
Marris (MP for Wolverhampton South West) attended a meeting with the
Russian delegates and Haven staff members. Karen Cross (Head of Community
Initiatives), Sandra Jones (Supporting People Manager), Linda Smith (Housing
Support Division), Delva Campbell (Senior Policy and Equality Officer),
Andrew Gough (Crime Reduction & Community Safety Officer), Anthony
Walker (Homelessness Services Officer), Sue Lindup (Co-ordinator, WDVF),
Hilary Williams (Public Health Practitioner), Kuldip Khela (Voluntary
Sector Support Officer) and Martha Cummings (Senior Voluntary Sector
Officer) were present.
Topics
unders discussion were Local Area Agreements, the National Domestic
Violence Delivery Plan, local-level strategies to tackle DV, Multi
Agency work and funding. The Councillors provided the visiting delegates
with detailed explanations of their roles in the Council's work against
DV.
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Wednesday
6th September 2006 Talk
by Diana Barran, Director of CAADA
Diana
Barran, Director of the charity Co-ordinated
Action Against Domestic Abuse (CAADA), gave a presentation to the
Russian delegates and Haven members of staff about her organisation's
work. She discussed the implementation of the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment
Conferences (MARACs) - which are closely linked to the roll-out of
SDVCs - and their role in assessing the risk to DV victims and implementing
effective solutions for protection. The role of Independent DV Advocates
(IAs, IDVAs), which CAADA trains and advises, was explained, as well
as the manner in which agencies work with the survivors of DV. CAADA
has played a major role in the development of SDVCs, and Diana talked
about the pilot work of the Women's Safety Unit in Cardiff. Hearing
about the experience of CAADA enabled the Russian party to gain insights
which will prove invaluable in their own work to improve the response
to victims of DV, especially in terms of the initiation of a multi-agency
response to DV.
The event was also
attended by a number of Haven managers and its IAs, as well as Caroline
Mansell, Walsall PCT. Wolverhampton
Domestic Violence Forum
Co-ordinator
of Wolverhampton Domestic Violence
Forum (WDVF), Sue Lindup, discussed the forum's work. Police Sergeant
Julie Smith, DV Officer for the Wolverhampton Police Force, and Caroline
Mansell, Specialist Health Promotion Policy Departmental Officer for
Walsall PCT also explained their work and the way in which it tied
in to the work of WDVF. Multi-agency work, data monitoring and DV research
was discussed.
The
Russians now hope that they will be able to set up their own co-ordinating
forum for the public bodies of their region which are involved in dealing
with DV. Explanation of the work of WDVF, and evidence of the immense
difference which can be made through multi-agency co-operation, inspired
highly constructive plans to be made!
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Thursday
7th September 2006
Haven
Training Day
The
Haven External Training Team, Alison Worton-Jones and Andrea Cifuentes-Poseck,
along with Gail Riggs (Independent Advocate at The Haven), gave
a the Russian delegates a training session on DV and the Criminal
Justice System in Enlgand and Wales. They covered trafficking,
diversity, and delivered an account of the processes involved in
bringing a DV case to court. They also covered changes in legislation
which have recently been enacted in order to improve the responses
of law enforcement agencies to DV. The role of Independent Advocates
in helping women who are experiencing DV was clarified by Gail
Riggs. The session helped to illustrate the way in which all the
agencies involved in takling DV are linked to the work of The Haven. |
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Meeting
with Board Members of The Haven
The
Russian delegates visited Herian House to meet some of the Board Members
of The Haven, as well as a number of staff from The Haven. Both parties
exchanged gifts - the Russian group presented a lovely painting of
a river landscape in Sverdlovsk, and the Russian delgates were presented
with a selection of Wolverhampton souvenir gifts.
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Tea
with the Mayor of Wolverhampton
The
Russian delegates, along with Chief Executive Officer of The Haven
Wolverhampton, Kath Rees, Project Manager Elvira Wilson, and Project
Researcher Marianne Simmonds and were invited to have tea with
the Mayor and Mayoress of Wolverhampton, Councillor J.L.G. and
Mrs. N. Davis. The tea was held in the Mayor's Parlour, in the
Civic Centre. Various councillors also attended. |
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Friday
8th September 2006
WOW/Inspire
Black Country Networking Event
Women
Organising in Wolverhampton (WOW) and Inspire
Black Country held a networking event, which the Russian
party, along with staff members of The Haven Wolverhampton,
attended. Representatives from a wide variety of local organisations
were present at this meeting. Parv Chana, Co-ordinator of WOW,
explained the vision of WOW and how it fits into the structure
of community and enables members at all levels to have an input,
as well as helping to unite the many different organised groups
of Wolverhampton for extra strength.
Kim
Carvey, Information Resources Officer of Inspire, gave a presentation
in which the group's structure, aims and history were explained.
Both WOW and Inspire help to promote co-operation between groups
working for women's welfare. In Russia, such groups are often
still small and only recently established, so information about
joint working and partnerships is extremely valuable to Russian
NGOs. A third presentation about partnership working gave more
detail about partnerships - how to create them, maintain them
and end them - and about the factors which are necessary to
bear in mind when working in this way. |
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Award
of Visit Certificates and Feedback Session
Certificates
of participation were awarded to the Russian delegates at
the end of the WOW/Inspire event. These recognised the training
and experience gained by the Russians during their time in
the UK.
A
feedback session, in which the participants were asked their
views on various aspects of the visit (educational value
of events, accommodation, venues, etc.) was conducted. It
emerged that all seven visitors were highly satisfied with
their trip, rating all events 'excellent' and 'good'; a notable
comment was that they regretted not having been able to spend
more time observing the SDVC and other legal processes. Inspired
by the example of the co-operation between statuatory and
NGO organisations in England, Natalia Sukhareva even commented
that she hopes to set up some kind of forum in the Sverdlovsk
area, along the lines of the WDVF. During their time in the
UK, the Russians observed responses to DV from the most senior
to the most local level, and have now returned to the Sverdlovsk
area with many ideas for applying some of the initiatives
they saw. Their work to improve the provision of services
for women and children experiencing DV, especially when taking
cases through the crminal justice system, has been given
fresh impetus.
Katherine
Rees presenting Luidmilla Ermakova with her Certificate
of Participation on the final day of the visit
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to top of page Thank you letter from Luidmilla Ermakova
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SVERDLOVSK
REGIONAL
VOLUNTARY ORGANISATION
“Ekaterina” Crisis Centre for Women
______________________________
Russia,
Ekaterina,
104 Khoryakova Ulitsa
Tel: 220-30-28, 381-37-38, 262-46-49
e-mail lusy@etel.ru, selkova@etel.ru
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Dear
Kath,
On
behalf of our Russian delegation, we would like to
thank the employees of The Haven, and you personally,
for a well-organised programme of training which will
be extremely useful in advancing our work within the
sphere of domestic violence and the support of women
through the criminal justice system.
We
would be very grateful if you could pass on our gratitude
to the heads and employees of the English organisations
that received us and generously shared their knowledge,
accumulated through active experience, about domestic
violence. Despite living so far apart, in different
cultures, and speaking different languages, we have
not been prevented from co-operating so usefully and
carrying out our activities.
As
the saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words.
We have seen in your country such respect and understanding
regarding the importance of voluntary women’s
organisations. Relying upon your experience, we can
now be far more convincing when battling our opponents.
We can see clearly that the support of voluntary organisations
is important, not just because they are the voice of
ordinary citizens (and thus, clear elements of a civil
society), but also because they are, quite simply,
beneficial to the economy.
Relying
only on your statistics, we can now convey how expensive
domestic violence is for the state when it ignores
this problem. One of the most stunning discoveries
for members of our delegation was that fact that in
Great Britain, the Home Office has a specific person
and special group [the Inter-Ministerial Group on Domestic
Violence] to tackle domestic violence.
We
now understand the direction in which our system of
justice must develop, in order that effective support
is available for the victims of violence, and so that
perpetrators are punished for their crimes. Criminal
charges should be brought on behalf of the state, as
in your country; our cases arise from private charges.
Despite being exhausted by the perpetrator, the woman
must play the role of both prosecutor and key witness.
It is no surprise that only a handful of cases result
in a judicial trial.
Everyone
knows the difficulty of taking your first steps; of
starting to stand on your own two feet. Thanks to our
remarkable teachers and partners at The Haven, we are
rapidly learning a great deal. We are so much more
fortunate than many of our fellow young crisis centres – which
number over a hundred.
The
struggle against violence, in all of its manifestations,
is a worldwide human problem - for it is contained
by no state border or language barrier. In various
countries, those who work on this problem understand
unambiguously that violence generates only more violence.
It is a chain reaction, which once initiated, is very
complex to halt. All people working in this sphere
- everyone able to so kindly share their own experience
with their colleagues from other countries – work
together for the future of all mankind.
On
behalf of all members of the Russian delegation,
Luidmilla
Ermakova
Director of the Crisis Centre "Ekaterina"
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