Raneem’s Law

New law forms part of initiative to reduce violence against women and girls

Raneem’s Law is a new initiative aimed at enhancing responses to domestic violence, named in memory of Raneem Oudeh, who, along with her mother Khaola Saleem, was murdered by Raneem’s ex-partner, Janbaz Tarin, in Solihull, UK, in 2018.

This initiative is part of a broader governmental mission to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade, emphasising a cross-government approach through the Safer Streets Mission Board led by the Home Secretary.

There are two key planks to the operation of the new law:

Domestic Violence Specialists in Control Rooms

Police emergency control rooms will now have embedded specialists in domestic violence. These specialists will advise on risk assessments, ensure faster responses to domestic abuse calls, and connect victims with support services promptly. Cases will likely be evidentially stronger from the outset, leading to more arrests, prosecutions and convictions.

Broader Application of Protective Orders

From November 2024, following the introduction of this law, more individuals and public bodies (beyond just police or criminal courts) can apply for Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs). These orders will cover various forms of abuse, including violence, stalking, and controlling behaviour. Breaching these orders will become a criminal offence with potential penalties up to five years in prison.

The new orders will go further than existing orders, with measures such as making it a legal requirement for perpetrators to inform the police of any change in name or address, imposing electronic tagging, and ordering assessments for behaviour change programmes.

There will also be no maximum duration for these orders.

What will the orders cover?

The orders will cover all forms of domestic abuse, including violence, stalking and controlling behaviour, and more agencies will be able to apply for them – not just the police and criminal courts but also family and civil courts, and third parties such as local authorities, charities and social services, with victims also able to apply directly for the order themselves.

The initiative has been given a cautious welcome, Afrah Qassim, CEO and Founder of Savera UK, said:

“We welcome the introduction of ‘Raneem’s Law’ and believe that embedding domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms and the introduction of new DAPOs with tougher sanctions has clear potential to see more cases correctly identified, particularly in cases of HBA and harmful practices, and responded to swiftly and appropriately.

However, effective implementation is vital. Much more detail is needed on how these initiatives will be put into action, including around training and vetting of specialists and the services and agencies that people at risk are referred to. Sadly, if these measures are not implemented correctly, they will not work.

There must be robust training around Honour Based Abuse (‘HBA’) and harmful practices, which are often not easily identified and require a very different approach from frontline professionals when responding. 

In our experience as a specialist HBA and harmful practice service, we see many frontline professionals working in the statutory and voluntary sector who are unaware of the laws that have been introduced to protect people from HBA and harmful practices. 

These include the law banning virginity testing and Hymenoplasty, which was introduced under the Health and Care Act 2022 and the The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022, which prohibits child marriage in England and Wales. We also see a lack of knowledge of these laws amongst individuals who may be affected.

Without effective implementation these powerful tools will fail to have the desired impact.”

How We Can Help

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the implications of the new law or any aspect of domestic violence offences, you can contact us on 0161 477 1121 or email us for more information.