Cornwall Council Shares Domestic Abuse Prevention Work at National Report Launch

“I was shocked by the reaction to my speech” says council specialist

Cornwall was placed firmly in the national spotlight last month when Jessica Tangye from Cornwall Council took to the stage at Westminster to help launch a major new report on preventing domestic abuse-related deaths.

Jessica, Implementation Lead for the council’s Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence team, addressed an audience that included Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, as part of the Learning From Loss report launch on 15th July. The report outlines key recommendations to help reduce future deaths, based on learnings from Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews (DARDRs).

Cornwall was one of only 11 areas across the UK selected to take part in a 2024 pilot project that helped inform the final report, published by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner. The local work was led through the Safer Cornwall Partnership, a council-led collaboration involving police, health services, social care, and support agencies.

You can read the full Learning From Loss report here:
https://domesticabusecommissioner.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/dac_dardom_summary_V3.pdf

“How we learn from tragedy to prevent future harm”

In her speech, Jessica explained how Cornwall’s use of Domestic Homicide Reviews, now called DARDRs, has helped shift professional attitudes and led to practical changes on the ground. She told the audience:

“It’s a privilege to speak today about a matter that touches the heart of our communities — how we learn from tragedy to prevent future harm.

Domestic Homicide Reviews, or DHRs, are not just procedural exercises. They are compassionate, human-centred reflections that bring together police, health services, social care, voluntary organisations, and commissioned services to understand what went wrong — and more importantly, how we can make it right.

In Cornwall, DHRs have been instrumental in shifting professional attitudes, especially around coercive control, risk assessment, and victim engagement. They’ve led to tangible changes — new protocols, improved safeguarding, and training that reflects the lived experiences of victims.”

What’s changing in Cornwall

Cornwall currently has 13 DARDRs in progress, with a further six due to be commissioned. Fourteen reports have already been published and are available via the Safer Cornwall website:
https://safercornwall.co.uk/most-recent-domestic-homicide-review/

Some of the changes that have come from these reviews include:

• Supporting victims whose first language isn’t English, in partnership with Women’s Centre Cornwall

• A project aimed at older victims of domestic abuse

• Embedding domestic abuse specialists into GP referral schemes, to identify and support victims within primary care

An emotional reaction

Jessica said she hadn’t expected her speech to make such an impact:

“I was definitely nervous representing Cornwall on a national stage like that, but it was important to me to showcase the work that goes on here and our role in the creation of such an important report.

I was surprised and shocked at the reaction to my speech to be honest. I’d written this piece that I thought was fairly straightforward advocating our approach in Cornwall and people were coming up to me afterwards to say how moved they were.

It was humbling to know my words had had an impact but it also made me very proud of the work we are doing in Cornwall.”

“Every life lost is a tragedy”

Councillor Thalia Marrington, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Public Health at Cornwall Council, added:

“Every life lost to domestic abuse, whether taken in a homicide or a death by suicide, is a tragedy that continues to devastate our families and communities.

This is why the Learning From Loss report is so important — it’s vital that we learn from every one of these domestic homicide reviews, and listen to victims’ families, friends and colleagues, to prevent future deaths.

I am immensely proud of the work carried out by Safer Cornwall and our Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence team and I would like to congratulate Jessica for representing Cornwall with such eloquence and passion on such an important stage.”

Support is available

If you or someone you know is affected by domestic abuse, help is available.
Visit the Safer Cornwall website for more information and support:
https://safercornwall.co.uk/domestic-abuse-sexual-violence/

📷Jessica Tangye speaking at the launch of the Learning From Loss report