Clares law disclosure and police

[Rainbowdream]

So I’ve put in an application for a clares law disclosure. I finished my application yesterday on the phone where they asked me questions about my relationship.
She said that some things I had described sounded concerning and they want to explore what’s going on now and see if they need to do anything to safeguard me ect. So I agreed to speak to someone else on the phone. So I got a call today and they said about going into the station to speak to them in a couple days.

I’m really nervous as I feel like I should be completely honest with them about everything as I frequently doubt myself and I want to get an answer as to whether it’s actually abuse and rape or if it is all in my head. I just worry what would happen I they say it is whether they would do something to him?
Also it was agreed I’d speak to someone over the phone, it worries me they want to see me. What if they have something to disclose. I never actually thought there would be something that came back.
Has anyone had a disclosure before? Or has anyone gone to the police without wanting to report something but they still took action?
Any advice would be appreciated

[Wants To Help]

Hi,

If they have already told you they have concerns about things you have told them then they will need to speak to you to clarify this and ask you a set of questions known as a DASH question set, this stands for Domestic Abuse / Stalking / Harassment. You can refuse to answer these questions if you wish, or refuse to answer some of them. The police are required to record a crime for any answers you give that amount to a crime and this is where some ladies end up with police involvement being escalated when they don’t want it.

Many ladies do not understand what rape is, and one of the questions asked is “Has the abuser ever done anything of a sexual nature without your consent or made you feel uncomfortable?” Depending how you answer that question they will use their knowledge of the law to know if this amounts to an offence of rape or not, and if it does, they are legally required to record an offence of rape and investigate it, in some cases, with or without your consent. The answers you give will allow them to work out whether you are a Standard, Medium or High Risk of future harm/death from him. If you are deemed to be High Risk you will get referred to MARAC (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference) and safe guarding referrals will be put in place. Whatever the risk outcome, if you have children their details will be obtained and passed to Children’s Services and their schools will be notified under Operation Encompass that there is a history of DA within the family that has been reported.

During COVID the police had no option but to deal with non emergency domestic situations over the phone, but this was never ideal. Face to face meetings are the proper procedures for dealing with domestic abuse so that the officer can be assured that you are not being coerced in to answers by your abuser and that you are giving your answers and receiving advice in a private setting without coaching.

What you tell them is up to you, but they can’t properly safeguard you and get a real insight to what is happening if you are not fully open and honest about what he’s done to you.

Hopefully the officer you see will have a good understanding of DA and be sympathetic and supportive and keep you fully updated with what they will do after they have the information they need.

Let us know how it goes.

xx

[Rainbowdream]

Thankyou for this response it’s been so helpful towards me understanding what might happen.
I’ve spoken to rapecrisis before and they have said it’s rape. If that the case then if I told them and they spoke to him I’d never be able to be home again I’d have to leave, it wouldn’t be safe for me or my kids to stay if he knew I’d said something to the police.
I really want to be honest with them but it makes it hard thinking it could potentially change everything before I’m ready

[Rainbowdream]

Nothing to disclose.
Couldn’t talk in detail as, like you said, they have a duty to act if I reported either rape or serious sexual assault.
They did a DASH assessment and put me high end of medium risk.
So now I don’t know what to do. Its been so long, he’s not changed. I feel like his agreement to do a healthy relationship type course is just to shut me uo qnd stop me from leaving. I don’t feel any better since we agreed to do that and now since talking to police I’m just a mess

[Wants To Help]

What you could do is tell them that you’re not ready to make any statements to support any prosecutions and that any arrests they do could cause you further harm at this time. Depending on what police area you live in they may be content with recording a crime of rape with an outcome of ‘suspect known but evidential difficulties prevented further investigation/victim declined to prosecute’. This record of a crime would come up on a future Clare’s Law for another woman. Depending on whether a disclosure is made to you of something like this in his past could help you make a decision going forward.

If you want the Clare’s Law disclosure to help you understand any risk on leaving, for example, does he have a history of stalking or harassment of another ex partner post separation? then you could explain that you may wish to report offences and have an investigation once you have left. Alternatively, any offences you report now could lead to an arrest and they could use this to get him out of the house pending the investigation. This gives you some respite to get orders in place like a Non Mol or Occupation Order. That way you won’t have to go home to him, but I appreciate this may not be what you want right now.

[Rainbowdream]

Thankyou for sharing this information. I think I’ll share with them my concerns at the start regarding then intervening and him being aware I’ve spoken to them as I fear it would cause further problems and I’m not quite ready to leave.
It’s so hard to know what to do for the best. I really need clarification on what I’m experiencing and I really want to do my best to protect my toddler and baby on the way. But it’s scary

[Lisa]

Hi Rainbowdream,

Rights of Women are an organisation staffed by women lawyers who specialise in areas of the law that are frequently needed regarding domestic abuse. They’ve got a lot of information on their website about the criminal justice process and your rights that may help you understand what to expect. They also have a criminal law advice line you can call.

Take care and keep posting,
Lisa

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