Over the last couple of years, the Government has introduced a number of measures in response to the growing pressure on the prison system.
One of these is the Standard Determinate Sentence 40% (SDS40) early release scheme, which has been in place since September 2024. Under the scheme, some offenders can be released after serving 40% of their prison sentence.
The scheme has understandably attracted considerable scrutiny. For organisations working with people experiencing domestic abuse, there has been particular concern about what early release could mean for survivors whose perpetrators are serving prison sentences.
Following the latest review of the scheme, it has been confirmed that perpetrators of domestic abuse will not automatically be excluded.
We believe this decision must be reconsidered.
Domestic abuse is about far more than individual incidents of violence.
It can involve coercion, intimidation, psychological abuse, financial abuse and patterns of controlling behaviour that continue over long periods of time. Perpetrators can go to considerable lengths to maintain power and control over the person they are abusing, including after a relationship has ended.
That is why the release of a perpetrator cannot be viewed simply in terms of the proportion of their sentence they have served.
The potential risk they continue to pose to a survivor must be at the heart of any decision.
Domestic abuse organisations and campaigners have repeatedly called for perpetrators to be exempt from early release arrangements because of those risks. There are also understandable concerns about whether probation and other agencies will have the resources necessary to safely manage an increased number of offenders within the community.
Domestic Abuse Commissioner Dame Nicole Jacobs has made clear that thorough risk assessments must take place before offenders are released and that probation services must have the resources required to manage them effectively.
Those safeguards are essential.
There is another important consequence that must not be overlooked: the impact that decisions such as this can have on survivors’ confidence in the criminal justice system.
Reporting domestic abuse can take enormous courage.
Many survivors have already experienced prolonged controlling behaviour, fear and intimidation before they feel able to seek help or report what has happened to the police.
We know that domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women and girls remain significantly underreported. If survivors believe that the person responsible for abusing them may serve substantially less of their sentence, there is a real concern that some may question whether coming forward is worthwhile or whether the system will ultimately keep them safe.
This is particularly difficult to reconcile with the Government’s wider commitment to tackling violence against women and girls and its ambition to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade.
If we are serious about encouraging more survivors to come forward, we must demonstrate that their safety and their experiences are taken seriously at every stage of the justice process.
Speaking recently to the East Anglian Daily Times, our Chief Executive, Jools Ramsey-Palmer, expressed our concern about the decision.
“It’s incredibly disappointing that perpetrators of domestic abuse will not be exempt from the early release scheme. This decision does not fully consider the risk that many perpetrators pose or the nature of domestic abuse, particularly the control that perpetrators exert over every aspect of their victim’s life.
We know that they will go to extreme lengths to continue to maintain their power and control, including disregarding any restrictions that are put in place to keep survivors safe.
It takes huge courage for survivors of abuse to report to the Police, and this decision will not only reduce the numbers of survivors willing to do so in the future but also reduce confidence in the justice system holding perpetrators to account for their actions.
While we know that there are many challenges faced due to the overcrowding of prisons, the safety of survivors must be the priority and we will continue to campaign alongside national organisations to ensure the voice of survivors is heard.”
We recognise the considerable challenges facing the prison system and the need for Government to find sustainable solutions to overcrowding.
However, those solutions cannot come at the expense of the safety of people experiencing domestic abuse.
Before any perpetrator is released early, there must be confidence that the risks they pose have been properly assessed, that survivors have been informed and supported, and that the agencies responsible for managing offenders in the community have the resources they need.
More fundamentally, we continue to believe that the particular nature of domestic abuse and the risks posed by perpetrators mean their inclusion within the early release scheme should be reconsidered.
The safety of survivors must always come first.
