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Falkland Island: Weekly Penguin News Update

The Captain of HMS Gloucester, Commander Iain Lower, tracks a parallel path as he prepares for a replenishment from RFA Gold Rover during a public sea day - Tony Curran reports on centre pages.

Headlines: ‘Let us help you’ police chief urges domestic abuse victims; Economic Development Strategy goes public; Doyle reports.

‘Let us help you’ police chief urges domestic abuse victims

THE Chief of Police has urged victims of domestic violence to come forward and report their suffering in an attempt to stop the cycle of abuse.

Superintendent Paul Elliott wants the public to be confident they can turn to the police who will deal with them “sensitively and with common sense.”

Although the rates of abuse in the home reported to police have been steady over the past five years – with around one incident per month – there are likely to be more unreported cases, Supt Elliott believes, and it is these victims he is urging to come to the police.

He told Penguin News: “Domestic violence is one of those offences which is historically unreported. Research from the UK shows that a woman will not report domestic violence until she has been beaten up 38 times. I know this is not the UK but it shows what human nature is.”

An objective of the Islands Plan is the increased reporting of domestic violence, something which would inevitably lead to the statistics looking worse.

However the problem needed to be kept in perspective and the Falklands was not a “hot bed” of domestic violence, Supt Elliott said.

“An increase in the numbers would not mean there is more happening, it just means it is being reported. My target is an increase in confidence that the police and social services authorities will deal with it sensitively and appropriately, leading in turn to a reduction in repeat offending.”

In the Falklands, there is arguably a greater stigma attached to domestic violence – which can include physical, sexual, emotional or financial abuse – and this often prevents victims from reporting their suffering to the police.

Supt Elliott said: “Your relationship is breaking down, and everybody in the country – not just the village – becomes aware that things are not right; this makes it that much more difficult for people to come forward for help.”

Aggravating the situation is the fact that, after a cooling down period in which the offender shows remorse, the victim often decides to withdraw their complaint. However, it is the decision of the Attorney General whether to prosecute, not the victim.

“If people can rebuild their relationship and the aggressor realises they have to stop, then wonderful,” Supt Elliott said.

“But if a person has their arm broken then drops their complaint because their partner has said sorry, a prosecution can still take place, regardless of the wishes of the victim.”

The lack of counselling available to couples is a concern to the Chief of Police but he acknowledged the difficulties with providing such facilities in a small community: “There is support available for anger management but there is a void in relationship counselling.

“I don’t think that is a contributory factor but it doesn’t help us to get out of the cycle (of abuse) - who can you talk to about it?”

Economic Development Strategy goes public

“AS many people as possible” should attend two public meetings which are being held next week to discuss the Economic Development Strategy (EDS), Councillor Mike Summers has said.

The work was “fundamentally important” and the decisions made would “set the direction for the next 15 to 20 years” he said, stressing the value of the public’s input to the strategy.

The areas covered by the EDS are being split for next week’s meetings which take place at 5pm in the Court and Council Chamber; Agriculture and Tourism will be discussed on Wednesday, August 26, and Fisheries and Services will be discussed the following day.

The meetings will include presentations on assessments of current industry positions and discussions held at the meetings will influence the final version of the strategy.

Some of the topics up for discussion, Cllr Summers said, were immigration policy, land use policy, inward investment, and ownership principles. Although “not set in stone” the key decisions made within the EDS would not easily be changed due to the scale of the project, he said.

Doyle reports

THE government has received its long awaited report from telecommunications consultant Dr Chris Doyle.

The report was submitted to ExCo yesterday, and will be published in due course, councillors said at a public meeting held on Tuesday.

Councillor Mike Summers said discussion was needed to determine how to proceed with Dr Doyle’s recommendations.