RESPECT – is the charity which is the “accreditor” of such programmes based in the community. The CEO is Ms Jo Todd, the accreditation officer was Mr Neil Blacklock. RESPECT placed a great deal of emphasis on safety, the safety of the woman. They recognised that the non-completion of a perpetrator programme increased the risk to a partner or former partner. DVIP is RESPECT’s flagship. In 1998 their completion rate was 47%. In 2006, with a new programme running, the completion rate was “sometimes as many as a quarter of the men make it through”. In 2008, a year before DVIP’s “accreditation” by RESPECT of 230 initial referrals just 33 men completed the DVIP programme. In front of a Home Office select committee the CEO claimed that 70% success rate – that would have been just 22 men.

The other strand of safety is “must have a female victim supporting” strand. That edict appeared despite the fact that 2002 Gondolf recognised that only 8% of female victims maintained contact with such an organisation and therefore it did not contribute to the safety of women.

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