Proposals to tackle domestic abuse threaten presumption of innocence

Open Rights Group has responded to government proposals to tackle domestic abuse in the UK.

Policy Manager, Sophia Akram said:

“It’s important that the government is committed to tackling domestic abuse and supporting the women and girls who are affected by it. However, plans to create a digital tool that would identify people as perpetrators of domestic violence even if they didn’t have a conviction are concerning.

“Predictive policing tools often rely on flawed and discriminatory data, and their use threatens everyone’s right to be presumed innocent. There needs to be transparency about how this risk assessment would work and what would happen to those identified as perpetrators.“