DASH RISK ASSESSMENT MODEL 2009

DOMESTIC ABUSE, STALKING, HARASSMENT & HONOUR BASED VIOLENCE

RISK ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST – DASH
Victim Name:
Perpetrator Name:
Date Completed:
Support Worker Signature:
CURRENT SITUATION
The context and detail of what is happening is very important. The questions highlighted in bold are high risk. Tick the relevant box and add comment where necessary to expand. / YES / NO
1 / Has the current incident resulted in injury?
(Please state what and whether this is the first injury)
2 / Are you very frightened?
Comment:
3 / What are you afraid of? Is it further injury or violence?
(Please give an indication of what you might think(name of abuser(s)) ______)
might do and to whom)
Kill:
Further injury & violence:
Other (please clarify) / □Self
□Self
□Self / □Children
□Children
□Children / □Other
□Other
□Other
4 / Do you feel isolated from family / friends i.e. does the (name of abuser(s)______
______) try to stop you from seeing friends / family / Dr. or others?
5 / Are you feeling depressed or having suicidal thoughts?
6 / Have you separated or tried to separate from(name of abuser(s)______
______) within the past year?
7 / Is there conflict over child contact?(Please state what)
8 / Does (name of abuser(s)______)constantly text, call, contact, follow, stalk or harass you?
(Please expand to identify what and whether you believe that this is done deliberately to intimidate you? Consider the context and behaviour of what is being done)
CHILDREN / DEPENDENTS (if no children / dependents, please go to the next section) / YES / NO
9 / Are you currently pregnant or have you recently had a baby (in the past 18 months)?
10 / Are there any children, step children that aren’t (______) in the household? Or are there other dependants in the household (i.e. older relative)?
11 / Has(name of abuser(s)______)
ever hurt children / dependents?
12 / Has(name of abuser(s)______)
ever threatened to hurt or kill the children / dependents?
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HISTORY / YES / NO
13 / Is the abuse happening more often?
14 / Is the abuse getting worse?
15 / Does(name of abuser(s)______)try to control everything you do and/or are they excessively jealous?
(In terms of relationships, who you see, being ‘policed at home’, telling you what to wear for example. Consider honour based violence and stalking and specify the behaviour.)
16 / Has(name of abuser(s)______) ever used weapons or objects to hurt you?
17 / Has(name of abuser(s)______) ever threatened to kill you or someone else and you believed them?
18 / Has(name of abuser(s)______) ever attempted to strangle / choke / suffocate / drown you?
19 / Does(name of abuser(s)______) do or say things of a sexual nature that makes you feel bad or that physically hurt you or someone else?(Please specify who and what)
20 / Is there any other person that has threatened you or that you are afraid of?
(If yes, consider extended family if honour based violence. Please specify who)
21 / Do you know if(name of abuser(s)______) has hurt anyone else? (children / siblings / elderly relatives/stranger for example). Consider HBV. Please specify who and what
□Children
□Someone from a previous relationship / □Another family member
□Other (please specify)
22 / Has(name of abuser(s)______) ever mistreated an animal or the family pet?
ABUSER(S) / YES / NO
23 / Are there financial issues? For example, are you dependent on (name of abuser(s) ______) for money / have they recently lost their job / other financial issues?
24 / Has(name of abuser(s)______) had problems in the past year with drugs (prescription or other), alcohol or mental health leading to problems in leading a normal life? (Please specify what)
□Drugs / □Alcohol / □Mental Health
25 / Has(name of abuser(s)______) ever threatened of attempted suicide?
26 / Has(name of abuser(s)______) ever breached bail / an injunction and / or any agreement for when they can see you and / or the children? (Please specify what)
□Bail conditions
□Non-molestation / Occupation Order / □Child contact arrangements
□Forced Marriage Protection Order
□Other
27 / Do you know if(name of abuser(s)______) has ever been in trouble with the Police or has criminal history?(If yes, please specify)
□DV
□Sexual Violence / □Other Violence
□Other
Other relevant information (from victim and officer) which may alter risk levels. Describe:
(Consider for e.g., Victims vulnerability – disability, mental health, alcohol, substance misuse
and /or the abusers occupation/interests – does this give unique access to weapons i.e.
ex-military, police, police, pest control.
Is there anything else you would like to add. To this?
NOTE:
To be used to inform professional judgement, if required.
1. Professional judgement: if a professional has serious concerns about a victim’s situation, they should refer the case to MARAC. There will be occasions where the particular context of a case gives rise to serious concerns even if the victim has been unable to disclose the information that might highlight their risk more clearly. This could reflect extreme levels of fear, cultural barriers to disclosure, immigration issues or language barriersparticularly in cases of ‘honour’-based violence. This judgement would be based on the professional’s experience and/or the victim’s perception of their risk even if they do not meet criteria 2 and/or 3 below.
2. ‘Visible High Risk’: the number of ‘ticks’ on this checklist. If you have ticked 14 or more ‘yes’ boxes the case would normally meet the MARAC referral criteria.
3. Potential Escalation: the number of police callouts to the victim as a result of domestic violence in the past 12 months. This criterion can be used to identify cases where there is not a positive identification of a majority of the risk factors on the list, but where abuse appears to be escalating and where it is appropriate to assess the situation more fully by sharing information at MARAC. It is common practice to start with 3 or more police callouts in a 12 month period but this will need to be reviewed depending on your local volume and your level of police reporting.
Please pay particular attention to a practitioner’s professional judgement in all cases. The results from a checklist are not a definitive assessment of risk. They should provide you with a structure to inform your judgement and act as prompts to further questioning, analysis and risk management whether via a MARAC or in another way

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