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The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS), also known as Clare’s Law, was created in 2014 after Clare Wood was killed in 2009 by an ex-partner in Greater Manchester.
The aim of Clare’s Law is to give you information regarding your current or ex-partner where there are concerns that this individual may be abusive, controlling and coercive, or violent - this is called a disclosure.
You can request a disclosure for yourself, or if you are concerned about someone else such as a family member, friend, colleague or neighbour if you believe they are at risk from their current or ex-partner.
A disclosure can also be given to safeguard your children, for example if you have concerns about your ex-partner’s new partner.
A disclosure can provide potentially life-saving information to help people to make a more informed decision about whether to continue the relationship they’re in.
You have the right to ask if your current or ex-partner has a history of domestic abuse or violence
You can make an application regarding a current or ex-partner, or if you have concerns about someone else’s current or ex-partner. The police will carry out checks and will refer any information to a local multi-agency panel for a decision as to whether to make a disclosure.
Jim became worried when his new boyfriend of two weeks, Logan, would message him multiple times in the day to tell him how happy he was with the relationship. Jim thought this was too intense for a new relationship, so made an application to find out if there was anything concerning in Logan’s past.
We told Jim that Logan that been arrested for controlling and coercive behaviour of a previous partner, which had led to Logan being convicted for an assault.
This allowed Jim to consider ending the relationship early.
Charles was concerned for his children when his ex-wife, Mary, allowed her new boyfriend Rob to move in after just a few weeks. Charles made an application to make sure his children were safe.
We contacted Mary and told her that Rob had previously been cautioned for assaulting a female and had been arrested on another occasion for assaulting his girlfriend.
Mary was already aware of this. When she asked who had submitted the application, she was told that applicants are kept confidential.
Stephanie initially had no concerns about her new boyfriend, Marcus but her support worker told her about Clare’s Law and she submitted an application just to make sure.
We told Stephanie about Marcus’ conviction for stalking his ex-girlfriend, and that we had previously arrested him for assaulting her.
We also shared this history with Stephanie’s support worker so that she could work with Stephanie on processing this information.
If police or a partner agency come across information that indicates you are at risk of domestic abuse, the information will be referred to a local multi-agency panel for a decision on whether to make a disclosure to you about that person.
You can make an application under the scheme in the following ways:
Please call 999 if you or someone else is in immediate danger.
You will initially be asked to provide information about yourself and who you are making the application for.
If your application meets the scheme criteria, a face-to-face or online visit will be held with you by an officer where we will ask you further questions.
We will do some research and refer the case to a local multi-agency panel where we will make a decision on if we can make a disclosure. If at any stage, we identify that an individual is at immediate risk of harm, we can bypass the referral and make an immediate disclosure.
Any disclosed information must be treated as confidential, and applicants cannot share this information with anyone else.
Read our Clare’s Law booklet for details on the process and other support and helplines.