Domestic Abuse Act 2021

In 2021, the Domestic Abuse Bill was passed and given Royal Assent to create the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. This Act was used to verify the Istanbul Convention however much of the content within the Act is still much debated. There have been calls to tackle domestic violence in the United Kingdom, which has been referred to as a "silent epidemic."^[1] The Act is intended to help tackle domestic abuse in the UK. There have been numerous suggestions to address the Act's protection of victims of domestic violence. The UK has also received criticism for taking eight years to carry out commitments following the Istanbul Convention.^{[citation needed]}

Definition[]

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 created the first statutory definition of domestic abuse to ensure that "domestic abuse is properly understood, considered unacceptable and actively challenged across statutory agencies and in public attitudes."^[2] The Act has created a genderless, broad definition which has not greatly expanded on the preexisting cross-governmental definition.

The definition is described in Section 1, which states that the behavior must be "abusive" and the parties involved must be "personally connected" to each other.^[3] Section 1(3) describes abusive behavior as: "physical or sexual abuse; violent or threatening behavior; controlling or coercive behavior; economic abuse; psychological, emotional or other abuse; and it does not matter whether the behavior consists of a single incident or a course of conduct."^[4] Section 2 describes relationships which are "personally connected" to each other, which includes relationships where the parties have been or are married, engaged, civil partners, in a relationship, or are related.^[5]

This definition has come under criticism predominantly due to the genderless approach that it has taken.^[6] Women are not recognized by the Act as being disproportionately affected by domestic abuse in the UK. For example, statistics across various sectors and identity groups demonstrate that women are experience higher rates of domestic abuse than men due to historical and "patriarchal dynamics surrounding the use of violence."^[7] The Government justified this decision to "ensure that all victims and all types of domestic abuse are sufficiently captured."^[8] This has led others to question whether the Domestic Abuse Act's definition enables people to fully grasp the nature of domestic abuse considering it is lacks a crucial element.^[9]

Children[]

The Act recognizes children as victims of domestic abuse.^[10] This recognize the detrimental effects of children experiencing domestic abuse within the home and how they are classed as the "invisible victims."^[11] Section 3 defines "Children as victims of domestic abuse" as an individual under 18 years who "sees or hears, or experiences the effects of the abuse" and is related to both or one of the parties.^[12]

Domestic Abuse Protection Orders[]

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 has created a new Domestic Abuse Protection Order ('DAPO') and Notice ('DAPN') which aims to unify the current protection orders within the UK. This is following aims to offer "maximum protection to all victims" of domestic violence in the UK in order to prevent the violence from recurring in the home.^[13]

The United Kingdom currently recognizes four protection orders for victims of domestic abuse: Occupation Orders, Non-molestation Orders, Restraining Orders and Domestic Violence Protection Orders.^[14] However, these protection orders are practically difficult to secure, as different orders provide different protections for victims. The new DAPO and DAPN aims to replace the old Domestic Violence Protection Notices and Domestic Violence Protection Orders.^[15]

DAPO and DAPN are currently at pilot stage in order to "assess the effectiveness and impact of the new model prior to national roll out."^[16]

Domestic Abuse Commissioner[]

The Act creates a new branch of Government called the Domestic Abuse Commissioner. Their role is to laid out in Part 2, which states that their general function include "good practice in - the prevention of domestic abuse; the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of offences involving domestic abuse; the identification of people who carry out domestic abuse, victims of domestic abuse and children affected by domestic abuse; and the provision of protection and support to people affected by domestic abuse."^[17] The Commissioner is an independent branch to provide the Government with "independent and objective advice which can be relief upon by statutory agencies and the voluntary sector alike."^[18]

The current Commissioner is Nicole Jacobs who has worked for domestic abuse charities for over 20 years.^[19]

References[]