Domestic violence and abuse in the United Kingdom are a range of abusive behaviours that occur within relationships. Domestic violence or abuse can be physical, psychological, sexual, financial or emotional.[1] [2] [3] [4] In UK laws and legislation, the term "domestic abuse" is commonly used to encompass various forms of domestic violence. Some specific forms of domestic violence and abuse are criminal offences. Victims or those at risk of domestic abuse can also be provided with remedies and protection via civil law.[5]
This is consistent with the Istanbul Convention, whose member countries must provide protection orders to victims of domestic abuse to ratify this treaty.
The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 creates a statutory definition of domestic abuse, but there are no offences related to this definition. Rather pre-existing offences make certain forms of domestic abuse illegal.[6]
This definition states that behaviour is abusive if it involves "physical or sexual abuse; violent or threatening behaviour; controlling or coercive behaviour; economic abuse; or, psychological, emotional or other abuse."[7] In order for such behaviour to be classed as domestic abuse, it must occur between two people who are over the age of 16 and "personally connected" to each other.
Relationships which constitute as "personally connected" are if the two parties are, or have been:
There are helplines available for women experiencing domestic abuse such as The National Domestic Abuse Helpline. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline (telephone number 0808-2000-247) from Refuge gives support, help and information about domestic violence. This helpline is confidential, free and available 24 hours per day.[9]
The ManKind Initiative provides a hotline for men experiencing domestic abuse. The hotline Galop provides services for those LGBT relationships who experience abuse.[10]
See also: Domestic abuse shelters. There are charities that provide temporary accommodation sometimes with associated therapeutic services for those escaping domestic abuse.[10]
[11] Other vulnerable groups will have to compete for funding with refuges against domestic violence and women fleeing domestic violence may be subject to a postcode lottery over whether they can escape or not.[12] Women fleeing domestic violence are frequently put into unsuitable housing, such as housing where a toilet leaks and housing overrun with mice. This creates a risk that women will return to the abuser. Other vulnerable women fleeing domestic abuse are forced to sleep rough.[13] Male victims of domestic violence also face challenges when seeking refuge as there are only 19 shelters in the whole of the U.K. offering refuge to men - 78 places in total (of which just 20 places are available for the exclusive use of men).[14]
See also: Non-molestation order.
The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 has created a single domestic abuse protection order to unify, though not necessarily replace, the current civil law protection orders such as non-molestation orders.[16] Although this Act has passed, currently the new domestic abuse protection orders that have been created have not come into force.[16]
There are no laws specifically against domestic abuse, but a number of other laws make certain specific forms of domestic abuse illegal such as those involving assault, harassment, or sexual abuse.[17]
Legal aid is provided for parents who want a court to prevent another parent seeing their child or obtain a divorce through the Family Courts if they have experienced certain forms of domestic abuse. A number of pre-existing crimes are considered domestic abuse.[18] [19]
| Statutory Legislation | Domestic abuse act | |
|---|---|---|
| Offences against the Person Act 1861,[20] s.16 | Threats to kill | |
| Offences against the Person Act 1861, s.18+20 | Wounding and causing grievous bodily harm | |
| Offences against the Person Act 1861, s.23+24 | Administering poison | |
| Offences against the Person Act 1861, s.47 | Common assault | |
| Theft Act 1968,[21] s.21 | Blackmail | |
| Criminal Damage Act 1971,[22] s.1 | Destroying or damaging property | |
| Criminal Damage Act 1971, s.2 | Threats to destroy or damage property | |
| Child Abduction Act 1984,[23] s.1+2 | Abduction of a child by parent or other persons | |
| Criminal Justice Act 1988,[24] s.39 | Common assault and battery | |
| Protection from Harassment Act 1997,[25] s.2 | Harassment | |
| Protection from Harassment Act 1997, s.2A+4A | Stalking | |
| Sexual Offences Act 2003,[26] s.1 | Rape | |
| Sexual Offences Act 2003, s.2 | Assault by penetration | |
| Sexual Offences Act 2003, s.3 | Sexual assault | |
| Sexual Offences Act 2003, s.62+63 | Committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence | |
| Serious Crime Act 2015,[27] s.76 | Controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship | |
| Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014,[28] s.121 | Offence of forced marriage | |
| Modern Slavery Act 2015,[29] ss.1, 2+4 | Slavery or compulsory labour, or human trafficking | |
| Domestic Violence, Crime & Victims Act 2004,[30] s.1 | Breach of non-molestation order | |
| Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003,[31] s.5A | Breach of a Female Genital Mutilation protection order | |
| Family Law Act 1996,[32] s.42A | Breaching non-molestation order | |
| Family Law Act 1996, s.63A | Breach of forced marriage protection order | |
| Public Order Act 1986,[33] s.4 | Fear or provocation of violence | |
| Public Order Act 1986, s.4A + 5 | Harassment, alarm or distress |
| Statutory legislation | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Family Law Act 1996, s.42 | Non-Molestation Order | |
| Family Law Act 1996, s.33, 35-38 | Occupation Order | |
| Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, s.12 | Restraining Order | |
| Crime and Security Act 2010,[34] s.24-33 | Domestic Violence Protection Orders and Notices |
Some men have repeatedly killed female partners. In the case of Theodore Johnson, convicted of murder in January 2018 and eventually jailed for a minimum of 30 years,[35] he was found guilty of manslaughter on two previous occasions because of his mental health.[36]
The history of domestic abuse examines the shift from domestic abuse being socially acceptable to unacceptable and how the law has evolved with that social evolution.
In 1510, Anthony Fitzherbert, a judge, published a manual for legal procedure called The New Natura Brevium. This manual described the writ of supplicavit which was available to wives whose husbands threatened to beat or kill them and allowed the court to punish a husband in these situations. However, the writ had an exception for threats required for the lawful "sake of Government and Chastisement" of a wife.[37] The extent of this exception is unclear. This right to beat was challenged but affirmed in Thomas Seymore Case with Edward Coke issuing a dissenting opinion denying any right of a husband to beat his wife.
The Lord Leigh case of 1674, ruled that wife beating had not been intended as permissible in the New Natura Brevium but only allowed for admonition and confinement to the house. Wife-beating was increasingly frowned upon in the 17th century which Doggett argued in part stemmed from the Protestant conception of Marriage. Puritans conceptualized marriage as analogous to the relationship between Christ and the Church, viewing the husband as dominant but imposing standards. The clergy and moralists advised husbands against wife-beating. However, many legal writers ignored the Leigh ruling stating that wife beating was a husband's right.
In 1782, the rule of thumb was satirised as an 'ancient doctrine' when Judge Francis Buller was reported as trying to review the principle, with Buller being depicted as 'Judge Thumb'. In 1895 when domestic abuse was restricted to only be permitted during the day, between the hours of 7:00 am to 10:00 pm, due to the noise of wife-beating leading to too many complaints in London.[38]
In 1971, following marches as part of the Reclaim the Night movement, the world's first refuge for domestic violence victims opened.[39] [40] The refuge was established by Erin Pizzey at Belmont Terrace in Chiswick, London. It has since been rebranded as the charity Refuge (United Kingdom charity). Pizzey's pioneering work was widely praised. In 1973 Jack Ashley stated in the House of Commons that "The work of Mrs. Pizzey was pioneering work of the first order. It was she who first identified the problem, who first recognised the seriousness of the situation and who first did something practical by establishing the Chiswick aid centre. As a result of that magnificent pioneering work, the whole nation has now come to appreciate the significance of the problem". Ashley was the first to use the term 'domestic violence' in its modern sense - meaning violence in the home.[41] [42] The term previously referred primarily to civil unrest, violence from within a country as opposed to violence perpetrated by a foreign power.[43] [44] The public pressure that surmounted from these protests for women's rights caused the UK to produce its first piece of legislation tackling domestic violence: the Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1976 which created civil protection orders for victims.[45] [46]
| +Estimated domestic abuse cases in England and Wales | Year | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022[47] | 1.7M (6.9%) | 699k (3.0%) | |
| 2021 | |||
| 2020[48] | 1.6M (7.3%) | 757k (3.6%) | |
| 2019[49] | 1.6M (7.5%) | 786k (3.8%) | |
| 2018[50] | 1.3M | 695k | |
| 2017[51] | 1.2M | 713k |
During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, there was generally an increase in demand for domestic abuse victim support services, including a 65% increase in calls and contacts logged by the National Domestic Abuse Helpline between April and June 2020, compared with the first three months of the year. According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) year ending March 2020, an estimated 5.5% of adults aged 16 to 74 years (2.3 million people) experienced domestic abuse in 2019. The police also recorded a total of 1,288,018 domestic abuse-related incidents and crimes in England and Wales (excluding Greater Manchester Police) in the year ending March 2020. Of these cases, 41% (529,077) were incidents not subsequently recorded as a crime. The remaining 59% (758,941) were recorded as domestic abuse-related crimes.[65] Increases in demand for domestic abuse support were particularly noticeable following the easing of lockdown measures in mid-May, such as a 12% increase in the number of domestic abuse cases handled by Victim Support in the week lockdown restrictions were eased. However, as the offences rate flagged as domestic abuse-related has been gradually increasing in recent years, and therefore it is not possible to determine if the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have attributed to the increases in 2020.[66] Domestic abuse campaigner, Jess Phillips MP, maintains the government focused too much on criminal justice, while police resources were cut and the availability of refuge beds was reduced.[67]
Changes to legal aid meant, in the first 9 months of 2017, 3234 people claiming to have been abused had to self-represent and appear in court with the people they claimed had abused them. This contrasted with 1309 such people in the first 9 months of 2012.[68] Katie Ghose of Women’s Aid said, "We know that the cross-examination of victims [sic] in the family courts by their abusive former partner [sic] is far too common. (...) It is a matter of urgency that the government prioritises the implementation of the ban on this abhorrent practice, be it through the courts bill or the domestic violence and abuse bill. Survivors must be able to safely access justice in both the criminal and family courts in their escape from domestic abuse."[69]
Applicants' assets are taken into account when deciding if they qualify for Legal Aid. Some applicants are unable to fully access their assets because those assets are controlled by their former partner. This can hamper attempts to secure legal representation in court. Mark Groves of the National Centre for Domestic Violence said, "While many people think Legal Aid is free, it is not. You have to pay a means-tested contribution. Economic abuse victims who don't control their money may not have this [and] those who have fled the family home may not have the right documentation. If you own a house, you have to put down a cash deposit equal to the equity in that house, which could be hundreds of thousands."[70]
Sometimes people accused of domestic violence are able to intimidate their former partner into not appearing in court, resulting in cases being dropped. A report by Police and Northumbria Crime Commissioner, Dame Vera Baird QC, monitored over 220 cases. It suggested that cases where the complainant failed to appear can too easily be dismissed, and that criminal justice services need more resources.[71]
Immigrants are especially vulnerable to domestic violence.[72] Since 2012 under the hostile environment policy immigrants who are victims of domestic abuse are increasingly deported. The Guardian wrote, "The refusal rate for applications under the domestic violence rule rose from 12% in 2012 to 30% in 2016, the last year for which full-year data was available. The figures show that 1,325 people were refused out of a total of 5,820 applications made between 2012 and 2016." Abuse victims may be deported based on what the abuser states without their case being heard.[73]
In Scotland there is an initiative to reduce domestic violence called the Equally Safe Strategy. This involves early intervention in domestic abuse cases affecting women, girls and children. The Caledonian Programme dealing with men convicted of crimes involving domestic abuse will be expanded to help reduce re-offending and the Rape Crisis Sexual Violence Prevention Programme will also be introduced in more schools. A rape and sexual abuse support service in England and Wales is also receiving a boost.[74]
Most refuges do not have disabled access though disabled women are more likely to experience domestic abuse than able bodied women. One in ten refuge places is accessible to domestic violence victims with physical disabilities. Out of 131 councils 20 had no accessible places at all. 16.8% of women with chronic sickness or disability suffer domestic abuse compared to 6.3% of able bodied women. Domestic abuse can involve physical, sexual or emotional abuse, as well as not providing care from people with long lasting sickness or disability. Data collected from 144 out of 210 UK councils contacted shows that Council funding for women's refuges overall fell by 6% over the five years to 2018. The largest reduction in spending on domestic violence refuges was from Southampton City Council, which cut spending by 65% since 2013/4.[75]
Women charities in the UK have complained of domestic violence victims being subjected to racism, by being refused places for refuge on the basis of the language they speak. Victims were said to be refused for not speaking English. The charities reported that out of the 20 victims, 5 were rejected by refuges for not speaking the English language.[76]