A LEADING domestic and sexual abuse charity are calling on the government to restart efforts in delivering a law that will safeguard black victims of abuse.

Sistah Space, who advocates for the rights of black women and girls, led a 106,000- strong petition last year campaigning for Valerie’s Law which was debated in Parliament for the first time in March last year. 

The debate came just three days before the anniversary of Valerie Forde, who the law historic law is named after, which is seeking to make the police and other government agencies undergo mandatory specialist training to better understand the cultural needs of black abuse victims.

Ngozi Fulani, the chief executive of Sistah Space, told The Voice that the team had contact with the government “for about a month or two” and met a few people after the Parliamentary debate, but added that it has been silent moving forward.

“We were supposed to be talking to Scotland Yard and various [others] and that hasn’t really materialised. As for the MPs that do back us, there hasn’t been any conversation. It’s kind of just ground to a halt,” she said.

The Queen’s death and the change of government meant the charity took a step back, but Ms Fulani added that “some considerable time” has passed since the landmark debate. 

She said: “It is for us, Sistah Space, to start the conversation because if we don’t it will just lay dormant and all of our hard work with the community and the supporters and of course the Forde family, all of our hard work would be in vain.”

The restarting of Sistah Space’s campaigning comes just weeks after they were forced to pause their operations over safety fears after a palace racism row led to “horrific” abuse against the charity and its boss. 

A meeting with campaigners and police chiefs at the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs Council was due to be organised after the Commons debate. 

Ms Fulani says that they are now working on writing a letter addressing key members in government to bring attention back to the importance of Valerie’s Law and how black women and girls continue to be affected by abuse. 

Prominent MPs that attended the debate included Diane Abott, Dawn Butler and Abena Appong-Asare who are all still supportive of Valerie’s Law, says Ms Fulani.

Ms Appong-Asare led the proposals and urged the government to do the “right thing” after initially rejecting the growing calls to mandate culturally specific training.

The-then Safeguarding Minister Rachel Maclean, who responded on behalf of the government, said that a new domestic abuse plan would tackle the issues raised by Valerie’s Law and that the current Domestic Abuse Act was already considering better ways to support black women and girls. 

However, the suggestions fell short of making the guidelines law.

She added that the plan’s overhaul would strengthen the response from police and courts, as well as improve protection for victims. 

It was being put together in accordance with the “Tackling violence against women and girls strategy,” which gathered input from ethnic minority groups following the death of Sarah Everard. 

However, Ms Appong-Asare pushed back against the proposals and asked whether the strengthening of the plan would specifically embed the challenges faced by black women and girls who experience abuse.

Ms Maclean replied that they needed a “tiny bit of patience,” but assured that they would be included and said a meeting with Sistah Space, the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs Council would take place.

Sistah Space are now calling for key guidelines in Valerie’s Law to be made legal including how child homicide victims are treated and have recently broadened the scope to also consider black girls who are at risk of adultification bias.

It comes after the case of Child Q, a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was stripped-searched while menstruating, and other high profile cases involving institutional racism and misogyny including the murders of sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman in June 2020.

The Voice understands that The College of Policing (CofP) and the National Police Chiefs Council lead for domestic abuse met with Sistah Space in August 2022. 

A CofP spokesperson said they discussed how the experiences of black women could be covered in national police abuse training, adding that they were committed to improving the response to all communities impacted by crime and criminal justice.

“Working alongside the charity sector, the College has developed DA Matters, which is an innovative and impactful learning programme. The programme has been accessed by most forces across the country who have delivered the learning to their officers and staff,” they added. 

“DA Matters is delivered by three charitable organisations, working with local police forces. The learning programme contains significant content on the different and interconnected nature of vulnerabilities, as well as content on the different experiences of people from black and other minority ethnic communities.”

The learning programme is being tailored to the findings in the Tees Valley Intervention Project Super Complaint report and the Police Race Action Plan.

A National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesperson said: “We know that black and minoritised women are less likely to report abuse to the police. Through our national violence against women and girls (VAWG) framework published in December 2021 we committed to improving this. We want that to change, and we want to work with groups, such as Sistah Space, to ensure that all women feel safer.

“Our national and local VAWG and domestic abuse stakeholder fora, offer organisations who represent women from many different backgrounds the opportunity to help shape the work we are doing. In some Forces, these have worked well in encouraging scrutiny from a range of communities.

“All forces now have action plans in place to target the perpetrators of these crimes and protect victims from harm. Individual forces know their communities. Each one will have its own methods of community engagement, with many having specific programmes and initiatives to engage with black women.

“Working closely with the national Police Race Action Plan we are determined to develop policies and activities that increase the trust and confidence that we know has been lost.

“Any victim of domestic abuse is one too many. We encourage anyone who thinks they have been, or are being, abused to report this to the police.”

The Voice has contacted the now Safeguarding Minister, Sarah Dines, about whether she would now be recognising the campaign for Valerie’s Law in her new role.

However, a Home Office spokesperson replied: “Our ground-breaking Domestic Abuse Act continues to support all victims of domestic abuse, and the government recognises that specialist support is needed for some groups.

“That is why we have committed up to £6 million ring-fenced grant funding through our Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan for ‘by and for’ services from 2023 to 2025 and police receive thorough training on domestic abuse, including recognising victims needs based on ethnicity or cultural background.”

The Voice has approached MPs Rachel Maclean and Abena-Appong Asare for comment.