In this episode of HJ Talks about Abuse podcast, Alan Collins and Feleena Grosvenor discuss the Domestic Abuse Bill that was passed into law on 29 April 2021.
The Act, for the first time, provides a legal definition of domestic abuse. It also provides a number of protections to the millions of people who experience abuse.
The Act states that domestic abuse is:
1. Behaviour of a person (“A”) towards another person (“B”) is “domestic abuse” if;
(a) A and B are each aged 16 or over and are personally connected to each other, and
(b) the behaviour is abusive.
2. Behaviour is “abusive” if it consists of any of the following;
(a) physical or sexual abuse;
(b) violent or threatening behaviour;
(c) controlling or coercive behaviour;
(d) economic abuse (see subsection (4));
(e) psychological, emotional or other abuse;
and it does not matter whether the behaviour consists of a single incident or a course of conduct.
Some monumental measures include that abusers will no longer be allowed to directly cross-examine their victims in the family and civil courts and the extension of the offence of threatening to disclose intimate images.
The Act also provides the new offence, as discussed in a previous podcast, of Non-fatal strangulation.
Other measures include:
We encourage anyone who has concerns about sexual abuse, domestic abuse or related matters, to get in touch with Alan Collins at alan.collins@hughjames.com or Feleena Grosvenor at Feleena.grosvenor@hughjames.com.
Sources:
Landmark Domestic Abuse Bill receives Royal Assent - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Domestic Abuse Act: Factsheet - Home Office in the media (blog.gov.uk)
Domestic Abuse Bill: For these victims, a new law is long overdue - BBC News
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