International Policy Framework

This chapter describes the international policy framework and efforts made on the international and European level to further the fight against violence against women and domestic violence. The respectivenational legal frameworks and organisational context of front-line responder services are discussed in-depth in the following chapters. The IMPRODOVA project followed a bottom-up approach in itsinvestigation of ground-level practices of cooperation of frontline responder services, which are, however, only meaningfully understood when interpreted in the governing national legal and policy framework.While numerous international policy documents relate to domestic violence, the ratification of the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence in 2011represents perhaps the most significant attempt to institute a comprehensive policy framework in this field. The "Istanbul Convention" includes the first legally binding, international, and wide-reaching set ofnorms to combat violence against women in general and domestic violence specifically.

Innovative Proposal Concerning the Human Factors Shaping Institutional Responses to Domestic Violence – the IMPRODOVA Project

The introductory chapter of this book presents the book's structure as a whole and gives a brief overview of its single chapters and their interrelatedness. The aim of IMPRODOVA - Improving Frontline Responses toHigh Impact Domestic Violence was to deliver recommendations, toolkits and collaborative training for European police organisations and medical and social work professionals to improve and integrate theinstitutional response to high-impact domestic violence. IMPRODOVA had two main components: analysis of current institutional responses to high-impact domestic violence and the development of effectivesolutions to improve those responses. Efforts were made to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach and contextualise our solutions, tools and guidelines to make them applicable to a wide range of societies.

Domestic Violence Risk Assessment and Case Documentation

Risk assessment is a cornerstone of domestic violence prevention and intervention. From the front-line responders' perspective, risk assessment constitutes a process that starts from identifying the factors increasing the likelihood of violence and then continues to plan safety measures to manage the sources of risks and prevent the recurrence of violence. To address some of the shortcomings related to the risk assessment of domestic violence, the IMPRODOVA project developed a Risk Assessment Integration Module, RAIMO. The overall purpose of RAIMO is to bridge the gaps between different risk assessment tools and professional perspectives and thereby to generate a shared understanding of risk assessment in multiprofessional and cooperative contexts. While RAIMO can be utilised in learning, teaching and as a databank, in this chapter, we focus on the key aspects and findings in risk assessment research. The chapter also aims to equip front-line responders with applicable information to revise or remodel the existing risk assessment procedures, networks, and tools.

Inter-Agency Cooperation and Coordination

In the past, the feminist movement exposed a sexist police culture as the main cause for police apathy in the face of domestic violence. This critique led to an ongoing transformation of police organisations. This transformation is composed of two main processes. The first process is a movement to constrain police activity, force police officers to take domestic violence seriously by enacting laws and rules that aim to reduce police officers' discretion. The second process also aims at transforming police activity, not by constraining it, but by improving the skills of police officers and making them work in partnerships with other stakeholders from medical or social service professions in the best interest of the victim. These partnerships may be within the police organisations or between the police and other stakeholders — typically social workers, magistrates, social housing representatives, NGOs, city administrators, etc. This chapter focuses on this second transformation process and aims at drawing comparative lessons from case studies in eight countries to document the characteristics of a "good partnership" against domestic violence.

Policy Development Module

The Policy Development Module aims to make the Domestic Violence combatting policy planning process more structured and inclusive. The Checklist and Manual developed during IMPRODOVA research andinnovation project form together a tool designed for Policy drafters, decision-makers and other key professionals responsible for planning the Policy's Feedback Cycle on national and local levels. This PolicyDevelopment tool enables a critical examination of relevant information and helps to consider all viable policy perspectives and tools, leading to increased understanding between different professions. Itmakes the Policy planning more inclusive and aids in engaging all salient stakeholders, including the representatives of the practitioners who work at the front-line and implement the policy. Consequently, theparticipants will develop a common purpose and a shared view on tackling the multidimensional societal challenges posed by Domestic Violence. The Checklist consists of eight sections, each of which shouldbe noted when drafting a new policy document and planning the indicators for its follow-up. The Manual gives more details and practical examples of each section and therefore supports the use of theChecklist.