Serious violence
What is serious violence?
The definition of serious violence in London is:
‘Any violence and exploitation, domestic abuse and sexual violence. Within the context of these types of violence, it includes homicide, grievous bodily harm, actual bodily harm, rape, assault by penetration, sexual assault, personal robbery, threats to kill and violence against property caused during the commission of one of these offences.’
What is the serious violence duty?
Serious violence has a devastating impact on the lives of victims and families, often instilling fear within communities and is extremely costly to society.
The serious violence duty is part of the Government’s approach to prevent and reduce serious violence. The duty focuses on taking a multi-agency approach to understanding the drivers and impact of serious violence, with a focus on prevention and early intervention.
It requires the following responsible authorities within Lewisham to collaborate and plan to prevent and reduce serious violence:
- the Police
- Youth Offending Teams
- Integrated Care Boards
- the Probation Service
- the Fire and Rescue Service
- local authorities
In addition to the responsible authorities, other stakeholders are expected to be involved in decision making including:
- education
- prisons and the Youth Custody Service
In Lewisham, the Safer Lewisham Partnership oversees the implementation of the serious violence duty.
Our strategy
Responsible authorities are required by the duty to produce an evidence based strategic needs assessment to identify current and long term issues in relation to serious violence and to understand emerging trends:
- serious violence strategic needs assessment [to follow]
The duty also requires that an annual serious violence strategy is produced, setting out how the responsible authorities are working together to reduce violence: