In 2011 it became statutory for Community Safety Partnerships to commission a learning review following a domestic abuse related homicide; a Domestic Homicide Review (DHR). The Home Office Statutory Guidance outlines the purpose of the review is to:
- Establish what lessons are to be learned from domestic homicide regarding the way in which local professionals and organisations work individually and together to safeguard victims;
- Identify clearly what those lessons are both within and between agencies, how and within what timescales they will be acted on, and what is expected to change as a result;
- Apply these lessons to service response including changes to inform national and local policies and procedures as appropriate;
- Prevent domestic violence and homicide and improve service responses for all domestic violence and abuse victims and their children by developing a coordinated multi-agency approach to ensure that domestic abuse is identified and responded to effectively at the earliest opportunity;
- Contribute to a better understanding of the nature of domestic violence and abuse, and
- Highlight good practice.
In 2016 the Statutory Guidance extended the remit of DHRs to include death by suicide where there has been abuse in the relationship. The name of the review has also been changed to Domestic Abuse Related Death Review (DARDR).
When a Review is commissioned an Independent Chair and a panel made up of agencies and organisations will consider the circumstances leading up to the death and the professional involvement then agree recommendations for organisational change. The Review should be seen through the eyes of the deceased therefore family and friends are central to this process.
