Raneem’s Law: When Someone Calls for Help, the System Must Be Ready to Hear Them
The Government has announced that domestic abuse specialists will be embedded in 12 more 999 control rooms across England and Wales as part of the next phase of Raneem’s Law.
The measure was established in memory of Raneem Oudeh and her mother Khaola Saleem, who were murdered by Raneem’s ex-husband in August 2018 despite multiple 999 calls being made to police. The expansion means 17 police forces will now have domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms, with the Government aiming to roll the approach out across every police force in England and Wales by 2029.
This is not just a policing announcement. It is a safeguarding announcement.
Because when someone experiencing domestic abuse calls 999, that moment may be one of the most dangerous, vulnerable, and critical moments of their life.
Why This Matters
The purpose of Raneem’s Law is to strengthen the response to domestic abuse from the very first point of contact.
The specialists embedded in control rooms will support call handlers and officers by helping assess risk, provide real-time advice, review cases and risk assessments, support training, and ensure victims are referred swiftly to specialist services where needed. Early reports suggest the approach has already improved confidence among call handlers and officers, supported earlier identification of high-risk cases, and enabled quicker safeguarding action.
That matters because domestic abuse is rarely a single incident.
It often involves patterns of coercion, control, stalking, threats, intimidation, emotional abuse, financial abuse, physical violence, and psychological harm.
For many victims and survivors, calling 999 is not the beginning of the abuse.
It is the point at which the risk has become unbearable.
The Impact on Adults
For adult victims and survivors, the way professionals respond in that first moment can shape everything that follows.
A victim who is believed, understood, and protected may be more able to access safety, specialist support, legal protection, housing advice, and emotional recovery. A victim who is dismissed, misunderstood, or treated as though the incident is isolated may be left at greater risk.
Domestic abuse can affect every part of a person’s life: physical health, mental wellbeing, parenting, employment, finances, confidence, relationships, and sense of identity.
It is not enough for systems to ask, “What happened today?”
They must also ask:
“What pattern are we seeing?”
“What has led to this call?”
“Who else may be at risk?”
“What does this person need to be safer tonight, tomorrow, and beyond?”
The Impact on Children
Domestic abuse is also a child safeguarding issue. Children do not need to be physically harmed to be harmed by domestic abuse. Living in a home where there is fear, control, violence, intimidation, or unpredictability can have a profound impact on a child’s emotional wellbeing, development, behaviour, relationships, sleep, education, and sense of safety.
Children may hear the abuse.
They may see the aftermath.
They may try to intervene.
They may protect siblings.
They may become part of the coercive control.
They may feel responsible for keeping the peace.
When a domestic abuse call is made, safeguarding professionals must consider not only the adult victim, but also any children connected to the household, relationship, or wider family network. A 999 call may be an emergency response for one person but it may also be a safeguarding alert for a whole family.
Our Perspective
At RLB, we often talk about safeguarding being everybody’s responsibility.
Raneem’s Law is a powerful reminder that safeguarding systems must be built around expertise, curiosity, and the lived reality of risk. Domestic abuse requires specialist understanding. It requires professionals to recognise patterns, not just incidents.
It requires systems to understand that victims may minimise, withdraw, return, delay disclosure, or struggle to explain what is happening because of fear, trauma, coercion, shame, or previous experiences of not being believed.
Embedding domestic abuse specialists at the first point of emergency contact is important because it brings expertise closer to the moment of risk.
But the wider lesson applies across every organisation.
Whether we work in policing, education, healthcare, housing, social care, charities, sport, or the workplace, we must ask ourselves:
Are our people confident to recognise domestic abuse?
Do they understand coercive control?
Do they know how to respond to disclosures?
Do they consider the impact on children?
Do they know when and how to escalate?
Do our systems make it easier or harder for people to get help?
Safeguarding is not only about having policies, it is about what happens when someone reaches out.
Looking Ahead
The Government has described the expansion of Raneem’s Law as part of its wider commitment to halve violence against women and girls within a decade. It has also highlighted wider investment in support for victims, including safe accommodation, counselling, court guidance, children’s services, and specialist therapeutic support.
These commitments matter.
But lasting change will require more than policy.
It will require culture, training, accountability, specialist support, information sharing, and a relentless commitment to listening to victims and survivors.
Raneem and Khaola should have been heard. They should have been protected. Their legacy must be a system that understands domestic abuse not as a private matter, not as a single incident, and not as something to be minimised.
But as a safeguarding risk that demands skill, urgency, and action.
Because when someone calls for help, the system must be ready. Not just to answer, but to understand, protect, and act.
Resources
News story- Domestic abuse specialists embedded in 12 more 999 control rooms