Home Affairs defends police campaigns

It comes after local charity Humankind sent an open letter to local media and Deputy Prow, accusing Guernsey Police of wasting tax payers’ money by having campaigns focusing on women as victims. They said this included domestic abuse and drinks spiking messaging.

‘We need the sexism to stop,’ wrote the charity, which raises awareness that men could be in abusive relationships and suffer domestic violence. We need the social stigma to stop. We need the police and Home Affairs to stop taking such an uneducated and destructive stance on these matters.’

Deputy Prow defended the force, saying that certain violent crimes such as rape, sexual assault and domestic abuse disproportionately affected women and girls. The victims of the recent six reports of drink spiking were all women.

‘This approach does not mean that violence or inappropriate behaviours against men and boys is ignored,’ he said.

‘Male victims in the islands will receive the same access to protection and legal redress within the criminal justice system which will continue to seek justice for all victims of these crimes. Our approach does however mean that the causes of gender-based violence are tackled.’

He said that services such as the sexual abuse referral centre would support all victims, regardless of sex or age: ‘These services will need to understand the gendered experiences of these crimes and the specific issues and barriers that male victims face.’

He added that police officers took all complaints seriously, regardless of gender.

‘That does not change the fact that women are far more often the victims, and therefore we need to take strong and robust action to tackle the gender-based element of these crimes,’ he said.