Tracey West, has been an active, noisy patron of WAND, the Women’s Action Network Dorset, since 2011 and is frequently a media spokesperson on the plight of those affected by domestic abuse. In 2014, she chaired the multi-agency No Excuse for Abuse Conference, jointly funded and co–hosted by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner in Dorset, and WAND.
According to the Office for National Statistics, there were 9,362 reported cases of domestic abuse in 2015 in Dorset, meaning 1.32% of the population (710,500) reported a domestic abuse crime in that single year.
Nationally, data from the year ending March 2015, showed that women were more likely to be victims of domestic abuse than other demographic groups and 12.6% of women aged 16 to 19 were victims in the last year. In comparison, 6.1% of all adults were victims of domestic abuse for the same time period.
Tracey explains, “Domestic abuse can happen to absolutely anyone and some of the stories I’ve heard from women survivors in our county alone, would chill you to the core. I read a report in 2014 stating that Dorset police dealt with a case of domestic abuse every hour of the day. Officers received around 700 reports of it each month across the county and dealt with more than 36,000 incidents of it between 2010/14”.
There are a handful of organisations working incredibly hard throughout Dorset to help victims of domestic abuse, including WAND, who are perhaps best described as a public awareness raising platform for various women’s issues and also a fundraising arm that regularly supports the West Dorset Women’s Refuge.
On Saturday 26th November from 7-10.30pm, WAND are hosting their annual Reclaim the Night Event at Dorchester Town Hall. Tickets are £3.00 on the door and all are welcome.Continue Reading