A new scheme announced by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) will see police forces, prison governors, and victims’ services work “hand-in-glove” to automatically block offenders from calling or sending threatening letters to their victims.
The Unwanted Prisoner Contact Service will act immediately on any intelligence to contact jails and block offenders from sending further communications.
In practice, the government says this will mean offenders will be physically unable to dial their victim’s number from the prison landings or send out letters to the victim’s address as these contact detail will automatically be barred.
Crucially, the new scheme means survivors will not have to ask for help themselves, with other agencies and support services able to contact the service on their behalf.
By creating a single hub for police victims and support agencies, the MoJ says the new service – which was trialled at Kent and Thames Valley earlier this year – will ensure a speedier response with dedicated case handlers quickly locating offenders and blocking contact.
They also say it will prevent abusers from using other offenders to torment their victims by barring victims’ contact details from all prison phones.
“We will never tolerate domestic abusers who seek to continue their campaign of abuse from behind bars and will always take tough action against the prisoners responsible”, said Minister for Prisons and Probation Damian Hinds, continuing:
“This new service delivers on our commitments in the national Domestic Abuse Plan and will better protect victims once their cowardly abusers are jailed.
During successful pilots, hundreds of victims came forward to request contact was blocked – showing the new model is more accessible and effective in identifying and protecting victims.”
The MoJ say the move delivers on the cross-government Domestic Abuse Plan which sets out investment of £140 million to support victims and £81 million to tackle perpetrators.