Domestic Violence And Abuse Policy

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S75 Equality And Good Relations Screening Form

General Information

Service/
Function
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Policy/
Procedure
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Project
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Strategy
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Plan
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Guidance
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Is this an existing, revised or a new function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance?
Existing ☐ Revised ☒ New ☐

Operational Area	OD HR
Title	Domestic Violence And Abuse Policy

Brief Summary

The purpose of this policy is to support employees who are affected by domestic violence and abuse and to assist the Council and its managers in providing that support.

This policy demonstrates the Council’s commitment to providing guidance for employees and managers to address the occurrence of domestic violence & abuse and its effects on the workplace.

What is it trying to achieve? (intended aims and outcomes)

The aim of the policy is to make the workplace a safe and supportive environment for all employees of the Council who are affected by domestic violence and abuse.

The objectives of the policy are to set out how the Council will:

offer support to our employees in addressing problems arising from domestic violence and abuse sympathetically and in confidence (as far as possible);
maximise the safety of our employees in the workplace;
signpost employees to external support agencies who can carry on support beyond the workplace;
Deal effectively with perpetrators of domestic violence and abuse among our workforce, as appropriate and to challenge behaviors and attitudes through our awareness raising campaigns.

Who owns and who implements each element of the function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance?

The OD HR Department have responsibility to:

Review and update the policy (and any other associated policies)
Advise line managers in the implementation of the policy
Advise line managers in the employment related matters.

While this policy applies to all employees of the Council, it is line managers, in consultation with their Heads of Service and Director who will play a key role in supporting the employee. Councils ‘trusted colleagues’ are available for support and advise. OD / HR will play a key role in implementing this policy in practice.

Other policies etc. which have a bearing on this function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance?

Flexible Working Policy and Procedure
Special Leave Policy
Home Working Policy

Available Evidence

Evidence to help inform the screening process may take many forms. Public authorities should ensure that their screening decision is informed by relevant data.

What evidence/information (both qualitative and quantitative have you gathered to inform this function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance? Specify details for relevant Section 75 categories.

Organisation Employee Statistics	Number
Number of Employees	661
Male	382
Female	279
Disability	13
Age <30	16
Age 30-49	324
50 and Over	321

Section 75 Category	Details of Evidence/Information
Religious Beliefs	Violence against someone within an intimate relationship occurs across every faith and religious group. It is not unique to any one group and can occur within relationships of no expressed faith or beliefs.
Political Opinion	Domestic violence can occur within intimate relationships irrespective of political opinion.
Racial Group	Domestic violence occurs in all racial groups but it is recognised that those experiencing abuse within ethnic minorities in NI are at a greater disadvantage because they may face additional obstacles such as being kept in isolation, language difficulties and not being informed of their rights.
Age	A study in 2006 incorporating NI, Scotland, England and Wales reported that overall, 2.6% of people aged 66 and over living in private households reported that they had experienced mistreatment involving a family member, close friend or care worker (i.e. those in a traditional expectation of trust relationship) during the past year. This equates to about 227,000 people aged 66 and over in the UK who were neglected or abused in the past year. Older males were more at risk of financial abuse whilst older females were more at risk of neglect.
Marital Status	Domestic Violence can occur within intimate relationships irrespective of marital status.
Sexual Orientation	Domestic Violence can occur within intimate relationships irrespective of sexual orientation.
Men and Women Generally	The majority of victims tend to be female. CCG have 279 female staff and 382 male staff.
Dependants
Disability	Information in relation to the disability status of an employee is recorded by the Monitoring Officer. 13 (2%) staff have recorded their status as disabled. Reasonable adjustments will be considered where appropriate and in line with advise from Occupational Health.

Screening Questions
1. What is the likely impact on equality of opportunity for those affected by this function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance?

Section 75 Category		Positive impact	Neutral	Negative impact	Reason
Gender	Women	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy will be applied consistently across the organisation regardless of gender. The policy acknowledges that domestic violence can affect both men and women.
	Men	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐
	Transgender men/women	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐
	Other please specify	☐	☐	Major ☐ Minor ☐
Race (As used in the 2011 census)	Asian	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy will be applied consistently across the organisation regardless of race.
	Black	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐
	Chinese	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐
	Mixed race White	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐
	Other please specify	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐
Disability	Long term health impairment could include mental health problems, asthma, heart conditions, chronic fatigue etc.	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy will be applied consistently across the organisation regardless of disability. Any reasonable adjustments as a result of disability will be considered.
Sexual orientation	Heterosexual, lesbian, gay men, bisexual, others	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy will be applied consistently across the organisation regardless of sexual orientation.
Age	Older People	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy will be applied consistently across the organisation regardless of age.
Age	Younger people and children	☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐
Political Opinion		☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy will be applied consistently across the organisation regardless of political opinion.
Religious Belief		☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy will be applied consistently across the organisation regardless of religious belief.
Marital Status		☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy will be applied consistently across the organisation regardless of marital status.
Dependants		☐	☒	Major ☐ Minor ☐	Agreed Policy will be applied consistently across the organisation regardless of dependants.

Screening Questions 2. Are there opportunities to better promote equality of opportunity for people within any of the Section 75 categories?

Section 75 Category		If Yes, provide details	If No, provide details
Gender	Women		No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.
	Men
	Transgender men/women
	Other please specify
Race As used in the 2011 census.	Asian		No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.
	Black
	Chinese
	Mixed race White
	Other please specify
Disability	Long term health impairment could include mental health problems, asthma, heart conditions, chronic fatigue etc.		No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.
Sexual orientation	Heterosexual, lesbian, gay men, bisexual, others		No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.
Age	Older People, Younger people and children		No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.
Political Opinion			No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.
Religious Belief			No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.
Marital Status			No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.
Dependants			No specific opportunity to better promote equality of opportunity for people within the section 75 equality categories has been identified.

Screening Questions
3. To what extent is the policy likely to impact on good relations between people of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group?

Section 75 Category	Details of policy impact	Level of impact major/minor/none
Religious Belief		The policy has no impact on people of different religious belief.
Political Opinion		The policy has no impact on people of different political opinion.
Racial Group		The policy has no impact on people of different racial groupings.

Screening Questions
4. Are there opportunities to better promote good relations between people of different religious belief, political opinion or racial group?

Section 75 Category	If Yes, provide details	If No, provide details
Religious Belief		No specific opportunity to better promote good relations for people of different religious belief.
Political Opinion		No specific opportunity to better promote good relations for people of different political opinion.
Racial Group		No specific opportunity to better promote good relations for people of different racial groups.


Additional Considerations
Generally speaking people can fall into more than one Section 75 category. Taking this into consideration, are there any potential impacts of the function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance on people with multiple identities? (For example: disabled minority ethnic people, disabled women, young Protestant men, young lesbians, gay and bisexual people.) No

Provide details of data on the impact of the function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance on people with multiple identities. Specify the relevant Section 75 categories concerned.
n/a

Disability Considerations Is there an opportunity to better promote positive attitudes towards disabled people by altering this function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance? ☐ Yes ☒ No

If yes, please give further information and examples:

Is there an opportunity to encourage participation by disabled people in public life by altering this function, service, policy, procedure, project, strategy, plan or guidance? ☐ Yes ☒ No

Please give further information and examples:

Screening Decision Likely Impact ☐ Major ☐ Minor ☒ None If the decision is to subject the policy to an equality impact assessment (i.e. likely impact – Major), please provide details of the reasons for this: n/a If the decision is not to conduct an equality impact assessment (i.e. likely impact = Minor) the Council should consider if the policy should be mitigated or an alternative policy be introduced:
If the decision is not to conduct an equality impact assessment (i.e. likely impact = None), please provide details of the reasons for this: It is the Council’s policy that anyone who is experiencing or has been affected by domestic violence and abuse can raise the issue, in the knowledge that we will treat the matter effectively, sympathetically and in line with our statutory obligations. Through the process of developing the policy and the screening process we have not identified any significant issues that require further consideration.

Mitigation
When the Council concludes that the likely impact is ‘Minor’ and an equality impact assessment is not to be conducted, the Council may consider mitigation to lessen the severity of any equality impact, or the introduction of an alternative policy to better promote equality of opportunity or good relations. Can the policy/decision be amended or changed or an alternative policy introduced to better promote equality of opportunity and/or good relations? ☐ Yes ☒ No
If YES, give the reasons to support your decision, together with the proposed changes/amendments or alternative policy:

Timetabling And Prioritising
If the policy/decision has been ‘screened in’ for equality impact assessment, then please answer the following questions to determine its priority for timetabling the equality impact assessment. On a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 being the lowest priority and 3 the highest, assess the policy in terms of its priority for equality impact assessment.
Priority Criterion	Rating (1 to 3)
Effect on equality of opportunity and good relations	N/A
Social Need	N/A
Effect on people’s daily lives	N/A
Relevance to the Council’s functions	N/A

Monitoring
Please outline proposals for future monitoring of the policy/decision: The Council will keep this Policy under review as required and may make any changes in line with legislation, and in consultation with trade unions.


Approval And Authorisation
Screened By Position/Job Title Date	Date
HR Business Partner Org Development	09 October 2020

Approved By Position/Job Title Date
Director of Corporate Services	29 October 2020