IN THE fight against Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) West Midlands Police have been working with the family of a Solihull mum and daughter who were murdered in a brutal knife attack.
This comes after a national report revealed at least one in every 12 women will be a victim of VAWG per year (two million victims).
However, West Midlands Police say it believes the exact number to be higher.
And Nour Norris knows all too well the devastating impact that domestic abuse has.
In 2018, her niece Raneem, aged 22, and sister Khaola, 49, were murdered by Raneem’s estranged husband in Solihull.
Their killer was jailed for life, but the force say it was clear more could have been done to join-up previous incidents of abuse and recognise the risk that the killer posed.
Over the past three month Nour has helped train hundreds of officers by speaking to them about the impact that the double tragedy had on her and her family.
She has spoken about the missed opportunities that led up to the murders, and her campaign to change the way that domestic abuse is viewed.
The force say she has urged officers to always listen to victims, as they will know first-hand what perpetrators are capable of.
Nour, who is also planning to assist in training officers around the impact of stalking and honour-based abuse, has said she has seen signs of positive change in the way police approach domestic abuse
But she knows there is still a long way to go.
She has welcomed the introduction of the Digital Abuse Desk at West Midlands Police, which is run by dozens of specially-trained officers who have video calls with domestic abuse victims who contact the police.
Nour said: “It’s a great initiative. This is something that we have been campaigning about. To have a specialist on the desk and all the right measures in place to help and assess them is crucially important.
“That’s something my sister and my niece didn’t experience.
“West Midlands Police has implemented this and that’s something I’m quite proud of and since the tragedy. I think it’s really important to set an example and turn weaknesses into strengths.
“It gives a big message to perpetrators – we are going to be out there, empowering victims and being there for them when they call us and ask for help, and we’re going to be there to stop you from doing what you’re doing early on, and not allowing it to get to a homicide.”
If anyone is in an abusive relationship contact police on 999 in an emergency or 101.
