The Prime Minister, Home Secretary and Justice Secretary have launched a much-anticipated consultation ahead of a draft Domestic Abuse Bill.
The proposals include new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders to give courts powers to electronically tag abusers or force them to attend a programme to address their underlying attitudes or addictions. It would be a criminal offence to breach such an order.
A statutory aggravating factor for domestic abuse could be introduced in sentencing, similar to those already in law for hate crimes, where the abuse involves or affects a child. A Domestic Abuse Commissioner would be appointed to hold the government to account.
Economic abuse would be recognised for the first time as a type of domestic abuse, covering controlling circumstances in which victims have finances withheld, are denied access to employment or transport, or are forced to take out loans and enter into other financial contracts.
The consultation, Transforming the Response to Domestic Abuse, also suggests a new statutory definition of domestic abuse as ‘any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse…’.
‘Controlling behaviour’ is defined as ‘a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour’.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said: ‘This is a once in a generation opportunity to transform our entire approach to this terrible crime. I call on everyone, but especially those who have suffered abuse in any form, to speak out and help shape the way we approach this crime for years to come.’
Views are welcomed from all affected by, or concerned about, domestic abuse, by 31 May 2018.
The government also introduced changes this week to allow the estimated 12,000 survivors of domestic abuse living in refuges to register their vote anonymously. They can now register without fear their abusive partners will find their names and addresses on the electoral roll.
The consultation launch confirmed the expectations of family law solicitor-advocate and NLJ columnist David Burrows, who suggested earlier this week that a consultation was imminent.
Burrows, writing in Family Law eNews, had called on the Home Secretary to ‘align family and criminal proceedings’.
‘So far as dealing with domestic abuse is concerned: there is a convergence between criminal proceedings and family cases; but separate remedies and enforcement,’ he said.
He also urged the government to introduce ‘clearer and much less confusing legal aid’ for abuse victims, and to make resources available to pay for special measures for vulnerable abuse victims.
‘There must be an appreciation of the urgency of the whole exercise of such badly needed law reform,’ he said, ‘and co-ordination between the ministries which are responsible for reform.’
Last week, the Sentencing Council issued guidelines on domestic abuse, for the first time including abuse through social media and online means such as tracking devices, and highlighting that abuse covers psychological, sexual, financial or emotional abuse as well as physical violence.
