Safer communities

Domestic abuse

Help is available if you're experiencing domestic abuse

  • Do you think you might be experiencing domestic violence and abuse
  • Are you worried about someone you know
  • Do you think you are treating a partner, ex partner or family member badly

Warwickshire Against Domestic Abuse

  • A freephone helpline is available 0800 408 1552 (Calls from most landlines to the freephone number are free and not shown on bills. If in doubt, or you are calling from a mobile, please check with your telephone provider.)
  • The helpline is open Monday to Friday 9:00am to 9:00pm and Saturday 8:00am to 4:00pm

Domestic Abuse Counselling Service (DACS)

  • Telephone 024 7635 1137 (this number will be shown on an itemised bill) or 024 7632 7647
  • Support and advice available Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 1:00pm 
  • Address - The Loft, 60 George Street, Bedworth, CV12 8EA
  • 24-hour National Domestic Violence Freephone Helpline 0808 2000 247
  • Find out how to access a refuge
  • Note that DACS have currently paused referrals until early 2024. 

Refuge - Domestic Violence Service Warwickshire 

Refuge deliver open access advice, information and support for anyone concerned about domestic violence and abuse in the county. Services they provide include: 

  • Outreach support, drop-ins and group work programmes 
  • Specialist advocacy for high risk victims of domestic violence and abuse 
  • Specialist support for male, BME and LGBT victims
  • Management of the Sanctuary Scheme 
  • Coordination of Warwickshire's MARACs (Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences) 
  • Refuge accommodation for women that need to escape domestic violence and abuse on an emergency basis 

All services can be contacted through the freephone helpline

  • 0800 408 1552
  • Monday to Friday, from 8:30am to 8:30pm and Saturday from 10:00am to 4:00pm
  • dvsw@refuge.org.uk

Remember domestic violence can take a number of different forms. Physical violence is only one type of domestic violence and abuse.

Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHR)

A Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) is a locally conducted multi-agency review of the circumstances in which the death of a person aged 16 or over has, or appears to have, resulted from violence, abuse or neglect by:

  • A person to whom he or she was related, or with whom he or she was or had been in an intimate personal relationship; or,
  • A member of the same household as himself or herself.

DHRs were introduced by the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 (DVCA 2004) and came into force on 13 April 2011. Their purpose is not to reinvestigate the death or apportion blame, but to:

  • Establish what lessons are to be learned from the 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 they will be acted on, within what timescales, and what is expected to change as a result;
  • Apply these lessons to service responses including changes to policies and procedures as appropriate; and to,
  • Prevent domestic violence homicide and improve service responses for all domestic violence victims and their children, through improved intra and inter-agency working.

The overall responsibility for setting up a DHR rests with the Chair of the Community Safety Partnership – in Nuneaton and Bedworth, this duty is performed via the Nuneaton and Bedworth Safer Communities Partnership’s (NABSCOP) Chair.

This decision has to be made within one month of the homicide coming to the Chair's attention. Once a decision has been made that a DHR will take place, the Chair is then responsible for setting up a Review Panel and appointing an Independent Chair for the Panel.

Details of DHR’s conducted within Nuneaton and Bedworth can be downloaded from this site.