Coronavirus: Train supermarket workers to spot domestic abuse code words, says Victims’ Commissioner

Dame Vera Baird is calling on the government to act

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Supermarket workers should be trained to recognise code words from domestic abuse victims whose only opportunity to seek help may be during shopping trips, the Victims’ Commissioner has said.

Dame Vera Baird urged the government to devise a new “system of rescue” to help victims report abuse during the Covid-19 lockdown when opportunities to do so have been reduced.

Giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee, she said: “Now, the equivalent of course is the supermarket, so you may be a very controlled person but the likelihood is you are sent out to buy the food, and also of course pharmacies.

“We urgently need to copy the French model ... which is to have emergency provision available in supermarkets and pharmacies.”

Dame Vera, a trained barrister, said a project called Counting Dead Women had recorded a total of 16 suspected domestic abuse killings in the past three weeks – up from an average of two.

The former Labour MP referenced the “Ask Angela” emergency code, used to protect people from sexual assault in bars and restaurants, saying it could be adapted for use at shop tills.

She added: “You could have a very similar system [to the Ask Angela code], easily training local workers in supermarkets, to just respond ... if people are able to come in and talk about what’s happening, fine, but maybe that’s not so straightforward and you wouldn’t know what to say to a cashier, so an option to have a codeword so that you say ‘Ask Vera’, and the person says ‘that means this to me’.

“I hope we can also get the government really to commit to introducing a system of rescue at the places, the sole places, that people who are in difficulties can go to now, which are largely pharmacies and supermarkets.”

Domestic Abuse Commissioner Nicole Jacobs, also giving evidence at the session, said that society must prepare for the “inevitable surge” of domestic abuse victims seeking support when the lockdown lifts.

“We need to allow those charities to quickly and very simply bid in and get the funds they need to sustain what they are doing, but also plan for the inevitable surge that we will have,” Ms Jacobs added.

“There will be people that are waiting and trying to survive every day and then will access support as quickly as they can when some of the lockdown is lifted.”

She also called for the period in which victims must report offences to be increased, as many may not be in a safe position to contact police.

There has been a surge in reported domestic abuse cases since the UK coronavirus lockdown began last month.

Refuge, the UK’s largest domestic abuse charity, last week said calls to its helpline had increased by 100 per cent in a single day.

Home secretary Priti Patel announced £2 million of funding to help the sector after the figures were revealed.

But campaigners say more funds are needed to help women across the country most at risk during the coronavirus lockdown.

“For any individual charity focusing on violence against women and girls, that amount would be huge because we run things on a shoestring,” said Fiona Dwyer, chief executive of Solace Women’s Aid.

“Spread across the whole country, it’s pitiful.”

Additional reporting by Press Association