Asking Angela and Clare – Making Leeds Safer For Women

Domestic violence remains a prevalent issue. A total of 599,549 recorded offences in England and Wales were flagged as domestic abuse-related in the year ending March 2018 – this equates to 12% of all reported offences.[i]

It is therefore important that people continue to create as much publicity as possible regarding this and highlight the truly heinous effects that domestic violence has.

Clare’s Law

One such incident involved 36-year-old Clare Wood. In 2008, Miss Wood, a single mum from Salford, had just broken up with George Appleton. Five days following their break up, she was in Pendleton police station telling them that Appleton had threatened to burn her house down, smash her windows, have her stabbed and made further abusive remarks making her feel extremely unsafe. She was taken home by two police officers who subsequently checked out the area. In the weeks that followed, she continued to make further complaints to the police regarding Appleton.

In February 2009, four months to the day that she broke off her relationship with Appleton, Clare Wood was found dead – she had been strangled and set on fire by Appleton before he took his own life.[ii]

Afterwards, it was found that Appleton had a history of dating and proceeding to terrorise women he found online. On the back of this information, Clare’s father, Michael Brown, began a campaign that resulted in the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, known affectionately as Clare’s Law, being introduced in 2014.[iii] This scheme allows anyone with concerns about their current or ex-partner to use their ‘right to ask’ to check if they have a history of domestic abuse.

With this in mind, West Yorkshire Police are launching a new campaign encouraging individuals to come forward if they have any apprehensions in their relationships. Applications can be made by males or females over 16 and the scheme does not discriminate between heterosexual or homosexual relationships.[iv]

#AskAngela

Leeds is also set to adopt the ‘#AskAngela’ scheme[v] – a code phrase women can use to let staff in bars know that they are in the need of assistance on a night out.

The scheme was originally implemented by Lincolnshire County Council back in 2016 as part of their #NoMore campaign. This was introduced to promote a change in culture in relation to sexual violence and abuse. The aim was to help empower victims in making a decision in reporting their incidents.

The phrase can be used if a woman is getting unwanted attention from men, on a date that they feel is becoming dangerous or generally feeling vulnerable at all. Going to bar staff/door staff and asking them for ‘Angela’ is all that it takes to initiate the help. The member of staff will know exactly what the phrase means and will proceed to help them out of the situation, for example by calling them a taxi, all with the minimum amount of fuss.

If you find yourself a victim of domestic abuse, it is also possible to claim for compensation. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme provides compensation to blameless victims of violent crime, including periods of abuse and sexual assault. For more information on this, including our video guide, please click here.

How do I invoke Claire’s Law?

Click here for further information and an online form from the West Yorkshire Police website, or call their non-emergency line – 101.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

For any advice or help with escalating a CICA claim, get in touch today for a free initial consultation in complete confidence. Choose one of the methods on the right-hand side of this page, or call us on 0113 200 9787 to find out how we can help you.

Sources:

[i] https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/clare-murdered-man-met-facebook-15543648

[ii] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/clares-law-to-become-a-national-scheme

[iii] https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/clareslaw

[iv] https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/crime/rape-and-sexual-assaults-on-the-rise-in-leeds-as-new-safety-scheme-is-announced-1-10025672