Victims and their friends, families or support workers in the area can apply for a DAPO at Teesside Combined Court Centre from today (5 March). Police can also apply on their behalf for protection against abusers.

DAPOs can provide stronger protection for victims as they can impose exclusion zones through tagging and mandate attendance at behaviour change programmes.

These orders cover all types of domestic abuse – including physical, controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse and stalking – and can be issued by all courts.

Today’s news comes during National Domestic Abuse Awareness Week, and after the successful launch in Greater Manchester and London in November.

Since then, there have been multiple convictions for breach of an order with some perpetrators already behind bars – with a maximum sentence of up to five years.

Minister for Victims and Violence Against Women and Girls, Alex Davies-Jones, said:

This is a positive step forward in better protecting victims of domestic abuse and in our mission to halve violence against women and girls.

The evidence from Manchester and London is that DAPOs are working, and the rollout in Cleveland will provide more victims and families with the immediate protection they deserve from the vile abusers controlling their lives.

Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, Jess Phillips, said:

We know that the current protective order regime isn’t working – any victim will tell you that. But seeing the results of these new orders so far has shown they can properly safeguard and protect victims.

Making sure that this new system works safety, initially on a smaller scale, is paramount to delivering real change for victims as part of our mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.

Rolling out these orders to Cleveland will help more victims and provide valuable insight to inform a wider expansion to other areas in the country. This is a welcome and important next step as we work to deliver what we promised.

Already implemented in Greater Manchester and three London boroughs, the orders will be introduced across North Wales in April ahead of an expected national rollout.

Jim Hope, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS North East, said:

No victim or family should live in fear of their abuser.

I welcome the introduction of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs) in Cleveland to enable the Crown Prosecution Service, alongside the police and courts, to better safeguard victims and their families from this horrific offending.

Our prosecutors can apply for an order on acquittal or conviction and, as other pilot areas have already done, stand ready to prosecute anyone who breaches an order.

This National Domestic Abuse Awareness week, the Government urges all victims to seek the help they deserve.

Today’s expansion is the next step in the Government’s unpreceded pledge to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade.

Background information

• Domestic Abuse Protection Orders were launched in November 2024 across Greater Manchester, three London boroughs and with the British Transport Police.
• The DAPO is a joint policy shared between the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office and was legislated for in Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
• Tagging can be imposed for up to 12 months at a time.