Cambridgeshire Police was one of the first UK police forces to roll out the WEPROTECT referral service in September 2020. Since then the force has made over 8,000 victim referrals to the Domestic Abuse (DA) Alliance.

Over 850 Cambridgeshire police officers have registered to use the WEPROTECT app. Where civil legal protection has been sought, the DA Alliance has helped to protect more than four people each week in Cambridgeshire to break the cycle of abuse.

In 2015, Sharon Livermore came extremely close to becoming a statistic; on average two women a week lose their lives to fatal abuse. Fortunately, Sharon survived her experience and today she uses her voice as a force for good – educating and empowering statutory services and employers to better protect victims of domestic abuse. In this video we see her being interviewed by Rosie Watson , Head of External Relations for the Domestic Abuse Alliance.

 A recent service assessment of the impact of the DA Alliance in Cambridgeshire revealed: 

• 72% of victims (for whom the DA Alliance had helped secure a court order) were no longer suffering from abuse.  
• 86% of victims were satisfied with the service provided by the DA Alliance. 
• 74% of victims were satisfied with the service provided by their appointed solicitor.

DI David Savill, Cambridgeshire Police said: “We are seeing increased demand on the collective resources that deal with reports of domestic abuse and provide support to victims across the county. Frontline services are being challenged, rightly, to improve the response to VAWG. Rolling out the WEPROTECT app has helped enhance our frontline response to supporting vulnerable people and provides an additional level of safeguarding for those experiencing domestic abuse. Our officers are encouraged to make referrals to the DA Alliance, during attendance at all domestic abuse incidents, to ensure victims receive the legal support they need, as soon as possible. 

Our WEPROTECT data dashboard provides a customised overview of all referrals that our officers have made, and the outcome of the legal support provided. We are using this data to support our insight under the statutory framework in relation to policing VAWG, so we can continue to improve the Force’s response in this critical area.” 

For further information visit: https://domestic-abuse.co.uk/weprotect/ and https://domesticabuseeducation.co.uk