Outcome 16 and racially minoritised women

Report from the Small Grant investigating the police responses to and support of minoritised adult women victims-survivors of Domestic Violence and Abuse and the factors that influence the decision to withdraw charges.

n.b. The report below replaces the report originally published September 2024. 

Report

Summary

In cases of Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA) it is common for survivors to withdraw support for police action; this can be for a complex matrix of reasons (1-7). The police use outcome 16 to describe the finalisation of an investigation where the suspect was identified, but the victim did not support police action (8). On average 51.4% of domestic abuse cases were discontinued in England and Wales year ending 2022 (8). This research was developed to support police forces to improve their understanding of why over half of cases are finalised in Outcome 16 and inform a better response to survivors and support prosecution. Currently there is a dearth of research which explores victim engagement and racial disparity, and this was identified as a priority area to be examined.

The research was co-produced by three police forces and three universities, who collaboratively designed the research and set objectives. The academic research team consisted of Dr Hayley Alderson, Professor Ruth McGovern, Dr Kausiki Sarma, Dr Claire Smiles (Newcastle University), Dr William McGovern, Dr Nikki D’Souza (Northumbria University) and Professor Geetanjali Gangoli (Durham University).

Key findings

1. At a national level, National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) leads should work collaboratively to ensure higher levels of cultural competency between and within forces in relation to professional practices when policing minority communities. Specialist compulsory training and refresher training should be introduced for police personnel regarding cultural diversity, how to respond to victims in a trauma-informed way, how to avoid victim blaming language and how best to support racially minoritised survivors.
2. The ethnicity of all DVA survivors should be routinely collected to enable forces to monitor the patterns of evidential problems related to Outcome 16 and understand whether individuals or groups of individuals are disproportionately affected due to their protected characteristics.
3. Police to harness the role of community elders/leaders as gatekeepers to improve awareness of available support and promote understanding and trust in the police among diverse communities. Given that women from racially minoritised backgrounds often find informal support networks more helpful than formalised services in the context of DVA [1], this approach can also help in improving both police responses and strengthening informal support systems that survivors are more likely to trust and access.
4. The impact of significant court delays on Outcome 16 to be monitored within forces and on a national basis to ascertain ‘the tipping point’ i.e. at which point, do the scales tip for a victim where this becomes the primary reason for them not wishing to pursue a prosecutorial pathway? Additionally, a robust process should be established to ensure that at each point in the criminal justice journey (i.e., point of report, criminal investigation process, transfer to court) a reassessment of needs is undertaken to accommodate the changing needs of the survivor.
5. Consideration to be given to whether Outcome 16 needs to shift focus (as a failed outcome) from a policing perspective. Currently, it is largely construed as a failure due to the monitoring/accountability of the measure, but this is at odds with survivors’ needs at times. Police recognise that they want to keep the ‘door open’ for repeat victims to reach out for police help when needed rather than to alienate them from further support. It was proposed that victim satisfaction measures should be given greater prominence rather than Outcome 16 (service quality vs outcome of case).
6. Overall, to improve survivors’ access and experiences of police support and mitigate the occurrence of Outcome 16 it was recommended to have: equitable multilingual information portals on civil-criminal justice procedures/ provisions, greater awareness of legal rights and service provisions, free legal aid for low-income immigrant women facing DA, and enhanced police training on dynamics of DVA/ coercive control.

Report date: October 2025.

The research was co-produced by three police forces and three universities, who collaboratively designed the research and set objectives. The academic research team consisted of Dr Hayley Alderson, Professor Ruth McGovern, Dr Kausiki Sarma, Dr Claire Smiles (Newcastle University), Dr William McGovern, Dr Nikki D’Souza (Northumbria University) and Professor Geetanjali Gangoli (Durham University). For more information, please contact Dr Hayley Alderson, hayley.alderson@newcastle.ac.uk