Carrie’s ex-husband is about to be released from prison. He is serving a two-year prison sentence after his violent outbursts and campaign of abuse left her isolated and terrified.
Having served just seven months of his sentence, this man will now be able to walk free in a matter of weeks, under Labour’s early release scheme. And Carrie fears for her life.
We met earlier this year at a domestic abuse conference where she spoke confidently and with great passion about the need to change the way councils and emergency services view domestic violence.
“I was a prisoner in my own home,” she told me. ‘I couldn’t see my friends. I wasn’t allowed to have my own money. He forced me to cut off contact with my mother.’
During the abuse, her repeated calls to social workers, as well as her reports to the police, went largely unheeded. It wasn’t until two officers answered her 999 call that she was finally believed – because her partner had assaulted one of the officers. It was that, and not his repeated attacks on her, that got him imprisoned.
When I spoke to her on the phone this weekend, she was distraught, but also under the influence of the tranquilizers prescribed by her doctor.
“I’m on diazepam,” she explained. ‘Otherwise I panic all the time. My ex is going to come after me and the kids, I’m sure. He told me he will.”
Carrie has thought about changing her name and moving to the other side of the country, leaving her job and everyone she knows behind.
Those who commit persistent sexual and domestic violence, and crimes rooted in coercive control, are very dangerous. They will offend repeatedly, says Julie Bindel
But she had just begun to rebuild her relationship with her parents — and knows that as she tries to forge a new identity, her ex-husband will target her parents, too.
Her story is far from unusual. Time and time again, men pursue women who have done everything they can to hide. They go after their mothers, sisters or girlfriends and bombard them with threats and intimidation tactics.
And it’s not just Carrie’s former partner who will pose a violent risk to her from the moment he is released, having served just a third of his time in prison, thanks to Andy Burnham’s latest conviction.
In yet another U-turn to the early release scheme, the Prime Minister has said that anyone convicted of unlawful killing will not be admitted, but prisoners serving indefinite sentences for public protection sentences (IPPs) could be released into additional cell spaces – the vast majority of whom have been given an IPP for violent or sexual offences.
And perpetrators such as domestic violence and stalkers will also be released early.
Such men should never be included in a parole scheme. As in cases of murder, rape, child grooming and now manslaughter, we must impose a blanket ban on releasing them before their sentences have been fully served.
Those who commit persistent sexual and domestic violence, and crimes rooted in coercive control, are very dangerous. They will offend repeatedly. The courts understand that this also applies to other categories of serious crimes, such as child sexual abuse, yet this is not properly recognized when it comes to violence against women.
This is despite the chilling fact that many men brag about their intention to take revenge on the women they blame for their captivity.
Labor says it is not possible to keep these types of men in prison because places are so limited.
The long-term answers to this must be clear. We need more prison capacity, but we also need to treat domestic violence as the serious crime it clearly is.
The current policy sends a terrible message to all abusers. They know it is highly unlikely that they will be prosecuted for their repeated rapes and assaults against partners and other victims under their control.
And in the rare cases where prison sentences are imposed, their sentences will be shortened, thanks to Labour’s parole frenzy.
The very fact that so few abusive men are in prison should tell us something about the few who do go to prison: they will be the worst of the worst, and it may not be safe to release them after a few weeks or months.
A short sentence does not deter such men. It just makes them angrier and more vengeful.
An immediate solution is needed, and it is simple. Most women in prison have not committed violent crimes. They are in prison because of drug and alcohol addiction, which leads to repeated thefts, burglaries, fraud and other relatively minor offenses.
Of course, there are known exceptions. But female killers and sex attackers are few and far between.
A large proportion of women in prison are there as an indirect result of persistent male violence. It’s horrible but true that women are more likely to end up in prison in the prolonged aftermath of rape than their rapist.
The emotional trauma caused by sexual assault is a common trigger for alcohol and drug abuse – and in many cases this inevitably leads to crime.
These women need treatment, not punishment. That would benefit everyone, including taxpayers, because programs that help women overcome addiction are consistently cheaper than prison.
By changing the way we punish and rehabilitate non-violent female offenders, we can free up the infrastructure and staff for a 600-bed men’s prison.
Prison overcrowding is a major problem for Labour. But giving dangerous men the freedom to stalk, torment, and attack their ex-partners is the worst possible response.
