Interagency Cooperation

Building capacity to manage domestic abuse (IMPRODOVA Project)

Abstract

The cooperation of agencies as first responders to domestic abuse has attracted increased
interests among researchers. Recent international guidelines, particularly the Istanbul Convention,
prescribe such networking between law enforcement, local support agencies, social
services, health care and other relevant professionals as a precondition for improved response
towards crimes committed in families and intimate relationships. The article describes the urgency
to combat domestic abuse by means of interagency cooperation, and continues with
a description of the Istanbul Convention, and explains the basic dimensions of such cooperation,
e.g., concerning referrals between responder agencies. The article concludes with a brief
overview of present research activities in the field by a project carried out by 16 partners. The
project ‘IMPRODOVA’ runs from 2018 to 2021 and is funded by the European Union Horizon
2020 programme.