Lunchtime debate: Should we ban domestic violence offenders from ...

The Chief Constable of the new Scottish single police force has suggested that men who are convicted of domestic violence while drunk should be banned from drinking alcohol.

I wondered what Lib Dem Voice readers thought of this proposal. In England, Drinking Banning Orders have been around for 7 years but the guidance on their use suggests that they may not be appropriate if an individual is subject to domestic violence proceedings.

I?d be interested to see if anyone has any knowledge of how these orders work in practice, and whether they are effective in reducing offending. Are they too illiberal, or are they liberating for potential victims?

Why are they not issued for domestic violence in England?

And what else needs to be done to tackle domestic violence? How do we change our culture to ensure a greater respect for women? I know that not all victims of domestic violence are women and not all perpetrators are men, but there is a case for looking at the issue in the context of gender as a Scottish Executive report from 2007 outlined:

To say that domestic abuse is gender-based is simply to recognise that the socially attributed norms, roles and expectations of masculinity and femininity which affect intimate relationships and family structures are integral to the use and experience of violence and abuse, whether perpetrated by men or by women. The gendered social environment will affect prevalence, intention and consequences of abuse differentially, for men and women, and requires analysis. But the intersections of class, ethnicity, sexuality et al will also impact on the experience and meaning of domestic abuse: it is neither a unitary nor a simple phenomenon, and our analysis must take account of complexity in a world of enduring gender inequality.

Is Stephen House?s remedy too simplistic? Over to you for your views and observations on the topic.

* Caron Lindsay is Wednesday editor at Lib Dem Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings

Source: http://www.libdemvoice.org/lunchtime-debate-should-we-ban-domestic-violence-offenders-from-drinking-alcohol-33082.html

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