In April 2021, the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 was given royal assent. This landmark piece of legislation intends to “transform the response to domestic abuse, helping to prevent offending, protect victims and ensure they have the support they need” by introducing a new definition of domestic abuse, introducing a domestic abuse commissioner, amending police powers and a number of other introductions designed to protect victims. This article will explore the introduction of a statutory definition of domestic abuse and how successful this is at achieving the goals identified by the government.
The definition of domestic abuse introduced in section 1 of the Act states:
(1) This section defines “domestic abuse” for the purposes of this Act.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
This definition is the first coherent statutory definition of its kind in English and Welsh law. Prior to this, the only coherent definition of abuse was within Practice Direction 12J, which governs family law. Therefore, the definition was not required to be used in other areas of the law and prevented legal authorities from utilising a consistent understanding of abuse. This practice direction identified coercive and controlling behaviour as an element of domestic abuse. However, within criminal law, the offence of ‘controlling or coercive behaviour’ is separate from an offence of domestic abuse. This incoherence between areas of the law can result in differing findings of abuse between them; this can cause confusion for victims of abuse and impact their ability to receive support for the abuse they endure. As a result of the Domestic Abuse Act’s definition, the application of the term ‘domestic abuse’ can now be consistent across all areas of the law. This can allow for an individual’s circumstances to be regarded as abuse across the board avoiding any miscommunication between authorities resulting in better protection and support for that victim.
The Domestic Abuse Act includes ‘coercive and controlling behaviour’ as an element of abuse. This is not a ground-breaking addition to English and Welsh law, as it was included in the family law definition of abuse and is a criminal offence under the Serious Crime Act. Despite this not being a new addition, including ‘coercive and controlling behaviour’ as an element of abuse is necessary to accurately reflect the reality of abuse. It is evident that ‘coercive and controlling behaviours’ are utilised by perpetrators because, when looking at crime statistics, in the year ending November 2020 24,856 offences of ‘coercive and controlling behaviour’ were reported by the police. As a result, the definition of abuse introduced has the potential to reflect the reality of abusive relationships and encompass a wide range of abusive behaviours within its scope. This suggests that all victims of abuse can receive protection and feel acknowledged by the judicial system.
It has been recognised that within family law cases there has been a lack of understanding about abuse and particularly coercive control leading to an increased rate of fact-finding hearings. This lack of understanding can result in a lack of protection and support for victims of abuse. The Domestic Abuse Act uses the same definitions of coercive and controlling behaviour as PDJ12. The inability to reclarify what constitutes this behaviour may result in a continued misunderstanding about the abuse. As a result of a greater societal understanding of domestic abuse, it is likely that these issues will not arise. However, it is necessary to review the implementation of this act and if these issues continue to arise. If they do, the Domestic Abuse Act cannot be successful at achieving the aims it set out to complete.
The Domestic Abuse Act has potential to better protect victims and the new definition of abuse is a positive step to achieve this. It has the potential to support victims more coherently across different areas of the justice system. Although the definition fails to reclarify the definitions of coercive and controlling behaviour, it is still likely that the definition will have a positive impact. As the act becomes implemented it will be interesting to see the impact it has on victims of domestic abuse and whether it is successful at achieving the aims highlighted. It may take some time to measure the success rate but it is necessary to continue to review the success of the definition.
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