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Caithness News Bulletins June 2004

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Womens Aid Outreach Service Highland Domestic Abuse Forum
Service Points Help the Campaign to Tackle Domestic Abuse

The Highland Council’s network of 36 Service Points are supporting a Highland-wide bid to eradicate domestic abuse by displaying leaflets which highlight the Highland Wellbeing Alliance’s Domestic Abuse Strategy.

Thousands of people use the Service Points each week, so the leaflet had the potential to reach a wide sector of the Highland population.

Cath King, Health Improvement and Community Safety Officer for the Highland Council says, “This leaflet summarises how the agencies and voluntary organisations in the Highlands are going to tackle the epidemic of domestic abuse. The Highland Wellbeing Alliance has agreed its mission to tackle domestic abuse - we want to make it clear that domestic abuse is never acceptable under any circumstances”.

Moira Grant, Senior Service Point Officer at Inverness Service Point, continues, “The leaflet has the contact phone numbers for all the agencies a woman experiencing domestic abuse might need. All the local Women’s Aid, Social Work, Police and many more numbers are on it and I would urge any one who is experiencing abuse or who knows someone who is to take the leaflet and contact one of the groups. They want to help you.”

The leaflet has been produced in conjunction with Zero Tolerance Charitable Trust a prominent organisation tackling all forms of violence against women.

Last month 130 incidents of domestic abuse were reported to the police in Highland. It has also been estimated that only between 2% and 18% of all incidences are ever reported – the true figure, therefore, is likely to be around 722 incidences for the month of May.

Gillian Gunn, Domestic Abuse Campaign Co-ordinator for the Alliance notes, “in light of these figures, domestic abuse obviously happens in the Highlands and we must continue to work together to eliminate it from our society.”

Links
Highland Domestic Abuse Forum
Rape & Abuse Line
Victim Support - Caithness
Womens Aid Outreach Service