Home ofice domestic abuse definition

Domestic Violence Standard Note:

SN/HA/6337

Last updated:

10 February 2015

Author:

Oonagh Gay

Section

Home Affairs Section

In 2012/13, there were 1.2 million female and 700,000 male victims of domestic abuse in England and Wales. Data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales suggests that 30 per cent of women and 16.3 per cent of men in England and Wales will experience domestic violence in their lifetime.

In November 2010, the Home Office published its cross-government strategy for tackling violence against women and girls (including domestic violence), Call to end violence against women and girls. The Home Office said the four key areas of focus of the strategy were; the prevention of violence, the provision of support, working in partnership, and ensuring perpetrators are brought to justice. Shortly after, the Home Office published an accompanying action plan, which has been updated every year since.

Some of the recent policies the Home Office has implemented include; the introduction of a new definition of domestic violence, publishing new guidance for reviewing domestic homicides, and the rolling out of Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) and the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (commonly known as Claire’s law) throughout England and Wales in March 2014.

In February 2014, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) published the findings from its review of the police’s response to domestic violence. HMIC concluded that the current police response to domestic abuse is failing victims and made a number of recommendations.

The Government launched a consultation Strengthening the law on domestic – a consultation in August 2014. As a result, the Government have added clauses to the Serious Crime Bill {HL] 2014-15 to make coercive control a specific criminal offence. In response to the consultation, the Labour Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said that Labour were committed to new legislation in the first Queen’s Speech of a Labour Government and to national standards for police, prosecution and support services, as well as a Commissioner for Domestic and Sexual Violence.

There are a number of legal remedies for victims of domestic violence and abuse, including occupation orders, non-molestation orders, restraining orders and, now, DVPOs.

This information is provided to Members of Parliament in support of their parliamentary duties and is not intended to address the specific circumstances of any particular individual. It should not be relied upon as being up to date; the law or policies may have changed since it was last updated; and it should not be relied upon as legal or professional advice or as a substitute for it. A suitably qualified professional should be consulted if specific advice or information is required.

This information is provided subject to our general terms and conditions which are available online or may be provided on request in hard copy. Authors are available to discuss the content of this briefing with Members and their staff, but not with the general public.

Standard Notes 950 Domestic Violence Statistics1 and 727 Domestic Violence: a select bibliography are also relevant.

A Police Foundation briefing Policing Domestic Abuse was published in October 2014 and contains the history, changes in legislation and policy, and key challenges associated with policing domestic abuse. It also contains a series of useful references for further research.

1

SN/SG/950, 24 December 2013

2

Contents 1

Selected statistics

4

2

Home Office strategy

5

3

Recent reforms

5

3.1

Expanded definition

5

3.2

Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs)

6

3.3

Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS)

7

3.4

Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) guidance

7

4

HMIC report: “police response to domestic abuse not good enough�

7

1.1

Home Office response:

8

1.2

Shadow Home Secretary response:

8

5

Spending on services for victims

8

6

Legal remedies

10

6.1

Criminal law

10

6.2

Civil law

10

7

Legislative proposals

11

8

Sources of advice for victims

13

3

1

Selected statistics

Domestic violence is still a largely hidden crime and difficult to assess. Measuring the true scale of the problem is not only hampered by the reluctance of victims to report their experiences but also the absence of a single criminal offence. The most reliable estimates come from the Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW). Latest figures show that:2 

In 2012/13, 7% of women and 4% of men were estimated to have experienced domestic abuse, equivalent to around 1.2 million female and 700,000 male victims.



Overall, 30.0% of women and 16.3% of men had experienced any domestic abuse since the age of 16, equivalent to around 4.9 million female and 2.7 million male victims.



Levels of domestic violence have been fairly stable since 2008/09.



1 in 10 respondents felt that it was mostly or sometimes acceptable to hit or slap their partner in response to their partner having an affair.



21% of victims of partner abuse reported it to the police.

The Crown Prosecution Service also provides statistics on the number of domestic violence cases referred to the CPS by the police, the number of prosecutions and the number of convictions. The latest statistics for 2012/13 show:3 

Over 88,000 cases were referred to the CPS by the police. Around 65% were charged.



Over 70,000 defendants were prosecuted. 74% were convicted.



93% of defendants were men. 84% of victims were women.

The HMIC report Everyone’s business: Improving the police response to domestic abuse, discussed below, found significant variations in the collection of data in the 43 police forces in England and Wales. It argued that data collected on domestic abuse needed to be consistent, comparable, accessible and accurate monitor progress effectively.

The domestic violence charity, Women’s Aid annual survey 2013, published in December 2013 showed that:4 

An estimated 15,000 women stayed in a refuge service in England in 2012/13.



On the census day (Thursday 27 June 2013), 155 women with 103 children were turned away from the first refuge they approached.

Various studies have been done into the level of service provision across the country. A high-profile example is the “Map of Gaps” review conducted by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in 2007 and again in 2009. This mapped specialist support services for female victims of violence, including Rape Crisis centres and domestic violence services (including refuges):

2

3 4

Office for National Statistics, Crime Statistics, Focus on Violent Crime and Sexual Offences, 2012/13, February 2014, Chapter 4 CPS, Violence against Women and Girls crime report 2012-2013, July 2013 Women’s Aid, Women's Aid Annual Survey 2013: Domestic Violence Services, December 2013

4



Summary – Map of Gaps 2: The Postcode Lottery of Violence Against Women Support Services in Britain, 2009

The EHRC’s website also includes links to various maps showing service levels across the country, as well as “report cards” listing the availability of specific types of service in various geographical areas as at 2014.

For further statistics see Library standard note 950, Domestic violence statistics, December 2013.

2

Home Office strategy

In November 2010, the Home Office published the strategy paper, Call to end violence against women and girls, setting out its approach for tackling domestic violence over the Parliament. This included £28 million funding for domestic violence support services. The Home Office highlighted four key principles of its approach:5 

Prevent such violence from happening by challenging the attitudes and behaviours which foster it and intervening early where possible to prevent it;



Provide adequate levels of support where violence does occur;



Work in partnership to obtain the best outcome for victims and their families; and



Take action to reduce the risk to women and girls who are victims of these crimes and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.

This was followed in March 2011 by a separate action plan, listing specific Government commitments, including, for example, campaigns to raise awareness and change attitudes and piloting Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs).6 The Home Office has since published three updated action plans.7 The action plan for 2014 outlined what the Home Office had achieved in the past year and what the Home Office intended do over the coming year in the four key principle areas: prevention, support, partnership working, and justice. This included, for example, further campaigns to raise awareness and change in attitudes, improving the police’s handling of domestic violence cases and action to reduce to fall off in case referrals from the police to the CPS.8

3

Recent reforms

3.1

Expanded definition

In March 2013, following consultation, the Home Office introduced a new official definition of domestic violence to be used across government. The definition was expanded to include young people aged 16 to 17 and coercive or controlling behaviour. 9 The Home Office said that “extending the definition increases awareness that young people in this age-group experience domestic violence and abuse, encouraging more of them to come forward and get the support they need.”10 5 6 7 8 9

Home Office, Call to end violence against women and girls, 25 November 2010, p5 Home Office, Call to end violence against women and girls: action plan 2011, 8 March 2011 See Gov.uk, Ending violence against women and girls: action plans Home Office, A call to end violence against women and girls: action plan 2014, 8 March 2014 Home Office, Cross-government definition of domestic violence consultation, 14 December.2011; See also Home Office press release, Extending domestic violence protection, 14 December 2011

5

The new definition of domestic violence now reads: Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. This can encompass but is not limited to the following types of abuse: 

psychological



physical



sexual



financial



emotional

Controlling behaviour is: 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.

Coercive behaviour is: an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.”

This definition, which is not a legal definition, includes so called ‘honour’ based violence, female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced marriage, and is clear that victims are not confined to one gender or ethnic group.11

3.2

Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs)

In November 2013, the Home Secretary announced that, following successful piloting and an evaluation, Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) would be rolled out across England and Wales from March 2014.12 This fulfilled one of the Home Office’s commitments from the Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls 2010 action plan.13 Under the DVPO scheme, the police and magistrates can, in the immediate aftermath of a domestic violence incident, ban a perpetrator from returning to their home and from having contact with the victim for up to 28 days. The scheme comprises an initial temporary notice (Domestic Violence Protection Notice, DVPN), authorised by a senior police officer and issued to the perpetrator by the police, followed by a DVPO that can last from 14 to 28 days, imposed at the magistrates’ court. The Home Office said that DVPOs are designed to help victims who may otherwise have had to flee their home, giving them the space and time to access support and consider their options.14 According to the Home Office’s evaluation of the DVPO pilots, “DVPOs were generally seen positively by practitioners and victim-survivors and were associated with a reduction in revictimisation, particularly when used in ‘chronic’ cases.”15

10 11

12 13 14 15

Gov.uk, Ending violence against women and girls in the UK Home Office, Cross-government definition of domestic violence consultation: Summary of Responses, September 2012, p19 HC Deb 25 November 2013 c6WMS Home Office, Call to end violence against women and girls, 25 November 2010, p29 Gov.uk, Ending violence against women and girls in the UK Home Office, Evaluation of the pilot of Domestic Violence Protection Orders, 25 November 2013

6

The previous Government legislated for Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) in the Crime and Security Act 2010.

3.3

Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS)

In November 2013, the Home Secretary announced that the domestic violence disclosure scheme (commonly known as Claires’ law) would also be rolled out across England and Wales from March 2014.

Under the scheme an individual can ask the police to check whether a new or existing partner has a violent past (“right to ask”). If police checks show that a person may be at risk of domestic violence from their partner, the police will consider disclosing the information (“right to know”).

For further information and background see Library standard note SN/HA/6250, Clare's law: the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, November 2013.

3.4

Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) guidance

In June 2013, the Home Office published updated statutory guidance for conducting Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHR),16 and, in November 2013, published further guidance based on the findings of the first 54 DHRs (between April 2011 and March 2013).17 The Government had previously (April 2011) brought section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 into force, making it a statutory requirement for local authorities to undertake a multi-agency review following a domestic homicide to identify what needs to change to reduce the risk of further incidents.

4

HMIC report: “police response to domestic abuse not good enough”

In March 2014, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) published the findings of its inspection of the police’s approach to domestic violence across England and Wales. 18 (The inspection was commissioned by the Home Secretary in September 2013 following a number of high profile domestic abuse cases).19 The report, Everyone’s business: Improving the police response to domestic abuse, concluded that, despite considerable improvements made over the last decade, the overall police response to victims of domestic abuse was not good enough. It said that there were alarming and unacceptable weaknesses in core policing activity meaning that victims were put at unnecessary risk. It found that although domestic abuse was a priority on paper, this was not translated into operational reality in the majority of forces, and that domestic abuse was too often the poor relation to other policing activity. The report said that the failings were the result of, among other things, a lack of visible leadership from senior officers, poor collection of evidence, poor training and inappropriate attitudes of officers.

The report made a series of recommendations to improve the service provided to victims of domestic violence by the police. It called for a renewed national effort to tackle domestic abuse from the Home Office and others, the creation of a national oversight group to report 16 17 18

19

Home Office, Multi-agency statutory guidance for the conduct of domestic homicide reviews, June 2013 Home Office, Domestic homicide review: lessons learned, 19 November 2013 HMIC, Everyone’s business: Improving the police response to domestic abuse, March 2014 (See also, HMIC press release, The police response to domestic abuse is not good enough and must be improved, finds HMIC inspection, 27 March 2014) Home Office, Major review of police response to domestic violence, 6 September 2013

7

quarterly on the progress made in implementing the report’s recommendations, and for each police force to establish an action plan setting out how it would improve its approach to domestic violence. Other recommendations included, improving data collection, risk assessment and police training.

1.1

Home Office response:

The Home Secretary, Theresa May, responded to HMIC’s findings in a written ministerial statement on 27 March 2014. In line with the report’s recommendations, she said she would establish, and chair, a national oversight group to monitor progress and that every police force would have an action plan for improving their response in place by September 2014.

She said she would report to Parliament again later in the year to update on progress. 20 1.2

Shadow Home Secretary response:

The Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, welcomed HMIC’s report, but stressed that whilst there were issues with the police’s response to domestic violence, the police could not be held solely responsible. She said it was the Government’s responsibility to ensure justice is delivered for victims of domestic abuse and that the report, as a response from Government, was simply not enough. Instead, she called for, “national standards in the way domestic violence and rape are pursued, a new commissioner - modelled on the children's commissioner - covering violence against women and domestic abuse, with the power to ensure standards are raised, and Government performance tables for the criminal justice system”.21

5

Spending on services for victims

In February 2012 a report by Professor Sylvia Walby, UNESCO Chair in Gender Research, and Jude Towers at Lancaster University was published which looked at the impact of current public expenditure cuts on specialist services for women who have been victims of violence. Key findings included: 

Substantial reductions in national budgets are leading to cuts in local services to prevent and protect against gender-based violence against women and girls.

These cuts in service provision are expected to lead to increases in this violence.



Thirty-one percent of the funding to the domestic violence and sexual abuse sector from local authorities was cut between 2010/11 to 2011/12, a reduction from £7.8 million to £5.4 million. (Data obtained using Freedom of Information Act requests by the False Economy project, and analysed by the research team).



The number of Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVA) has been reduced: in 2011 among 8 major IDVA service providers supporting 13,180 clients, 2 faced funding cuts of 100%, 3 cuts of 50%, 3 of 40% and 2 of 25%. (Data from a poll carried out by Coordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse - CAADA).22

This parliamentary answer gives current spending commitments in June 2014: Asked by Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean To ask Her Majesty’s Government what projects other than refuges for women who are the victims of sexual violence will be

20 21 22

HC Deb 27 Mar 2014 c41-2WS Labour party press release, Labour: Yvette Cooper response to HMIC report, 27 March 2014 Towers and Walby, Measuring the impact of cuts in public expenditure on the provision of services to prevent violence against women and girls – Key Findings, 1 February 2012

8

set up by the Home Office with the £28 million for the spending review period allocated by the Home Office for specialist domestic and sexual violence services The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Taylor of Holbeach) (Con): Over the spending review period the Home Office funding of £28million provides for: 144 Independent Domestic Violence Advisers and 75 funded IDVA training places; 87 dedicated Independent Sexual Violence Advisers; 54 Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference co-ordinators and funding to Co-ordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse to provide support and advice to MARACs, as well as running a programme of quality assurance; and £1.2 million for 3 years from 2012 to improve services for young people suffering sexual violence in major urban areas.

The Home Office also provides over £900,000 per year to support the following freephone national helplines: the National Stalking Helpline which offers information and advice to stalking victims; the National Domestic Violence Helpline which offers support for victims of domestic violence and is run jointly by Women’s Aid and Respect; Broken Rainbow which offers help to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims; the Male Advice (and Enquiry) Line which offers help to male victims of domestic violence and advice to perpetrators; and RESPECT which offers information and advice to people who are abusive towards their partners and want help to stop.

Decisions about the provision of refuge accommodation for victims of domestic abuse are a local matter and it is the responsibility of the individual local authority to identify any gaps in service provision and put in place appropriate solutions to address this.

We would expect local authorities to build services based on the needs of their communities, taking account of locally available data sources. 23

The Women’s Aid annual survey 2013 found an increase in the number of refuges would be subject to tendering processes: Likewise, most respondents stated that they would be receiving local authority funding in the current financial year (i.e. April 2013 to March 2014). Of 162 responses, 132 (81%) said they would get council funding and nine said they would not. 21 respondents did not know (even though they would, at the time of responding to the surveys, have been three months into the financial year). Of those getting local authority funding, 43 indicated that this would be via competitive tendering (38%), 63 said this would not be tendered; two said that some services would be via competitive tender and two did not know (114 answers).

Polly Neate, the Chief Executive of Women’s Aid warned in August 2014 of the dangers of local commissioning resulting in refuges closing: We are reaching a tipping point where we are about to lose nearly half a century of knowledge, skills, and practice in the domestic violence sector because of shortsighted local commissioning, which fails to understand the nature and impact of domestic violence. Not only does this have a devastating impact now, but its effects will remain. We cannot simply re-open such services at a later date - the expertise and experience of the staff will have been lost forever. And with it, our ability to help.24

23

HL Deb 25 Jun 2014 cWA158

24

; “Closing domestic violence refuges is the most dangerous thing of all for women” 5 August 2014 Telegraph

9

Women’s aid issues an annual survey illustrating pressure on services. The 2014 survey summarised lack of capacity as follows: Our Key findings Over the past financial year (2103/14): Nearly a third (31%) of referrals to refuge in 2013/14 were turned away because of lack of space (n=20,736 referrals received, data provided by 115 services).

37% of respondents were running services without dedicated funding (data provided by 132 services). Of these respondents (n=49), 65% (32), of were running services on reserves and 24% (12) were running services on a voluntary basis.

13% of respondents had suspended/closed an area of service due to lack of funding (data provided by 132 services). 25

6

Legal remedies

6.1

Criminal law

Domestic violence is not a specific criminal offence. There are, however, a number of possible offences for which perpetrators could be prosecuted depending on the specific acts, ranging from murder, rape and manslaughter through to assault, harassment and threatening behaviour.26 6.2

Civil law

There are two important civil law remedies under the Family Law Act 1996 (as amended by Part 1 of the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act 2004): 

An Occupation Order is a court order which governs the occupation of a family home. It could be used to temporarily exclude an abuser from the home and surrounding area and give the victim the right to enter or remain. In certain circumstances, the court may attach a power of arrest to the occupation order.



A Non-molestation Order is a court order which prohibits an abuser from molesting another person they are associated with. Molestation is not defined in the Act but has been interpreted to include violence, harassment and threatening behaviour. Each order would contain specific terms as to what conduct is prohibited and could last for any length of time deemed appropriate by the Court. Breach of a non-molestation order is a criminal offence.

The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (as amended) also provides for important civil and criminal remedies, including non-harassment and restraining orders. These are discussed in more detail in the Library standard note SN/HA/6648, The Protection from Harassment Act 1997, June 2013.

Practical information about how to apply for court orders is available from the Women’s Aid Survivors Handbook, the Victim Support website and HM Courts and Tribunals Service.27

25 26

27

“Women’s aid annual survey 2014” Women’s Aid These are usefully discussed in Anna Matczak et al., Review of domestic violence policies in England & Wales, 2011 , pp10-12 See forms; FL401, Application for: a non-molestation order, an occupation order; and FL700, How Can It Help Me? Part 4 of the Family Law Act 1996 - Domestic Violence.

10

The withdrawal of legal aid for most forms of family law has prompted concern for victims of domestic abuse, who have to meet evidential requirements to access legal aid. Further information is available in Standard Note 5839 Legal aid for victims of domestic violence. A recent attempt to challenge the legality of the legal aid changes in respect of domestic violence was rejected by the High Court. In January 201528

7

Legislative proposals

The Government have added clauses to the Serious Crime Bill {HL] 2014-15 to make coercive control a specific criminal offence.

On 20 August 2014 the Home Secretary, Theresa May, launched an 8 week consultation on strengthening current laws on domestic violence. The document, Strengthening the law on domestic – a consultation is available on gov.uk website. The consultation closed on 22 October 2014. The paper summarises the arguments for and against as follows: There are arguments for and against making a specific domestic abuse offence.

Victims of domestic abuse often fear the consequences of reporting their abuse for their families and even their perpetrators. Accessing the criminal justice system can be intimidating, particularly where a victim is likely to remain emotionally involved with their perpetrator. In making new laws we must carefully consider the concerns victims may have about accessing the criminal justice system. Creating a new offence may also be seen as duplicating existing legislation relating to stalking and harassment, and distracting frontline agencies from the fundamental operational changes that are urgently needed to use the existing framework effectively.

Conversely, the HMIC report on domestic abuse makes clear that the police fail to see domestic abuse, particularly in its non-violent form, as a serious crime. Acts that are clearly criminal are not referred for prosecution and arrest rate varies widely. Creating a specific offence of domestic abuse may send a clear, consistent message to frontline agencies that non-violent control in an intimate relationship is criminal. Explicitly capturing this in legislation may also help victims identify the behaviour they are suffering as wrong and encourage them to report it, and cause perpetrators to rethink their controlling behaviour.

The Government is seeking views on whether the law needs to be strengthened by creating a specific offence that criminalises coercive and controlling behaviour in intimate relationships, in line with the existing non-statutory definition. 29

In response, the Labour Shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said that Labour were committed to new legislation in the first Queen’s Speech of a Labour Government and to national standards for police, prosecution and support services, as well as a Commissioner for Domestic and Sexual Violence.30 Further details are available from a speech made by Ms Cooper on 28 July 2014: A Labour government that would make tackling violence against women and girls a top priority, with legislation ready for the first Queen’s Speech, new national standards and

28

See Law Society Gazette “Domestic violence challenge on legal aid fails” 22 January 2015

29

30

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/344674/Strengthening_the_law _on_Domestic_Abuse_-_A_Consultation_WEB.PDF Labour Press “19 August 2014 Response to Home Office Consultation on Domestic Violence”

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a commissioner to ensure they are enforced. And compulsory sex and relationship education to teach zero tolerance of violence in relationships. 31

Two new clauses were added to the Bill at Committee stage concerning domestic abuse. 32 New clause 9 [now clause 73] would provide for a new offence criminalising controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship. New clause 10 [now clause 74] would confer a power on the Secretary of State to issue guidance about the investigation of the new offence.

The Solicitor General told the Committee about the purpose of the new offence: The new offence seeks to address repeated or continuous behaviour in relationships where incidents viewed in isolation might appear unexceptional but have a significant cumulative impact on the victim’s everyday life, causing them fear, alarm or distress.33

The new offence would be committed where a person (A) repeatedly or continuously engages in behaviour towards another person (B) that is controlling or coercive and at the time of the behaviour, A and B are personally connected, the behaviour has a serious effect on B, and A knows or ought to know that the behaviour will have a serious effect on B. The Solicitor General said it was not the intention of the Government to intrude into ordinary relationships. He said that the Government recognised the importance of ensuring that the new offence would not impact on non-abusive relationships that might be more volatile than others and so, the repeated or continuous nature of the behaviour and the ability of a reasonable person, whether part of or external to the relationship, to appreciate that their behaviour will have a serious effect on the victim, would be key elements of the new offence.

The new clause would contain a defence where A showed that in engaging in the behaviour in question, A believed that he or she was acting in B’s best interests, and the behaviour was in all the circumstances reasonable. The Solicitor General said that this defence would operate where someone was genuinely acting in the best interests of another. He gave the example of a spouse, who is a carer and needs to restrict the movement of a partner, perhaps with mental health issues, for their own safety. The defence would not be available where A’s behaviour has caused B to fear that violence will be used against B. The new offence would be triable either way with a maximum penalty (on conviction on indictment) of five years’ imprisonment.

The Home Office produced an impact assessment for these provisions: Strengthening the law on domestic abuse, 28 November 2014.

The Plaid Cymru MP Elfyn Llywd had also tabled clauses on coercive control and domestic abuse. He said that the Government clauses encapsulated most of the contents of his clauses and he supported them. He did, however, raise concerns regarding a number of specific points, including whether a duty would be placed on police forces to train all officers in the new offence, whether the guidelines issued to the police would make it clear that 31

Labour Press 28 July 2014 “The Choice on Police and Crime: Yvette Cooper’s speech” See also “Labour vows action on rape and abuse as shadow Home Secretary announces 'women's champion' to tackle domestic and sexual violence” 22 September 2013 Independent on Sunday

32

PBC Deb 20 January 2015 c195 PBC Deb 20 January 2015 c172

33

12

defendant must prove beyond reasonable doubt that their behaviour was in the best interest of the victim if they sought to use the defence, whether coercive control post-separation would be covered and how those who suffered coercive control by a family member who did not live with them would be protected.

Labour spokesperson Seema Malhotra also welcomed new clause 9 [now clause 73] and raised points of concern regarding the clarity of guidance and the use of the defence.

Several Members drew attention to the concerns of Women’s Aid, a national domestic violence charity, regarding the defence contained within new clause 9. The charity has warned that the defence could too easily be manipulated by perpetrators.

The Solicitor General responded to the various concerns raised. Regarding the defence, he said there is an objective element to the test that allows the magistrate or jury to apply commonly understood principles of justice. He said that he was satisfied that the way in which the defence is drafted would provide the necessary balance and take out those obvious cases of care that should not be within the purview of the provision. 34 He clarified that the new offence would not apply in circumstances where two former partners no longer lived together.

8

Sources of advice for victims

The details of a number of organisations which offer help to victims of domestic violence and abuse are available from Gov.uk, Report Domestic Abuse. A selection are reproduced below: 

National Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247



Men's Advice Line: 0808 801 0327



Wales Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0808 80 10 800



Scottish Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0800 027 1234



Northern Ireland Women's Aid 24-hour Domestic Violence Helpline: 0800 917 1414



Broken Rainbow Helpline (for LGBT people): 0300 999 5428

34

PBC Deb 20 January 2015 c189

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