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Chapter 2: Tackling domestic abuse
ISSUES
: Domestic Violence
2
Chapter
Tackling domestic abuse
“Domestic abuse is everyone’s problem”:
why criminalising coercive control just isn’t
enough
Following their consultation “strengthening the Law on Domestic Abuse”, the Government
plans to introduce a law on domestic abuse which criminalises ‘coercive control’.
By Siobhan Weare
T
he legislation will make
controlling
and
coercive
behaviour between those in
an intimate relationship a criminal
offence. Introducing such legislation
is not sufficient to combat the issue of
domestic abuse unless it is supported
by an improvement in the responses
of criminal justice agencies to abuse,
and increased investment in support
services for victims.
Currently, domestic abuse is not
criminalised as a specific offence;
however, victims of physical violence
are offered protection under existing
criminal offences. Protection is also
offered under civil law in the form
of non-molestation and occupation
orders. The police have been
given additional powers through
the Domestic Violence Disclosure
Scheme (Clare’s Law), to disclose
information on request about whether
an individual’s partner has a history
of perpetrating domestic violence.
The police can also issue Domestic
Violence Protection Notices, placing
restrictions on the perpetrator
contacting the victim and providing
immediate emergency protection to
victims.
Creating an offence of coercive
control will bring the law in line with the
government’s existing non-statutory
definition of domestic abuse. In
creating this offence the Government
hopes that it will ‘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 acknowledges
that currently the police response
to non-violent domestic abuse is
largely inadequate, and by explicitly
acknowledging
coercive
and
controlling behaviour as an offence
anticipates that this form of abuse will
be taken more seriously.
Any steps taken to address the issue
of domestic abuse are commendable,
but simply criminalising coercive
control is not a sufficient response.
As discussed above, there are already
numerous laws used to protect
victims of domestic abuse. However,
evidence suggests that these existing
legal provisions are not being used
effectively enough, and therefore,
if a new offence of coercive control
is introduced, will it suffer the same
ineffective fate of its predecessors?
The Government hopes that by
creating an offence of coercive
control, reporting rates of domestic
abuse will increase. Statistics from
the United States, where similar
laws have been introduced in some
states, indicate a 50% increase in
reporting rates. In order for victims
to feel able to report their abuse, they
need confidence in the responses of
criminal justice agencies. A recent
report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate
of Constabularies (HMIC) highlighted
a number of significant failings
in police responses to victims of
domestic abuse. The report indicated
that victims who reported their abuse
to the police sometimes felt they were
not believed, that specialist domestic
violence units in police forces are often
under-resourced and overwhelmed,
and that there are unacceptable
variations when charging perpetrators
with
offences
(
justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmic/wp-
content/uploads/2014/04/improving-
the-police-response-to-domestic-
abuse.pdf). It is clear that urgent
improvements are needed in the
police response to domestic abuse
to secure more prosecutions under
existing legislation and to increase
confidence in the criminal justice
process.
Within the justice system there needs
to be an eradication of the damaging
stereotypes which continue to
surround victims of domestic abuse.
Victims are stereotyped as being
female, abused in the context of a
heterosexual relationship, with the
abuser being their male partner
or ex-partner. Although this is the
context within which the majority
of domestic abuse takes place, a
significant minority of cases involve
male victims abused by their female
partner, or domestic abuse taking
place in same-sex relationships.
Domestic abuse within these contexts
is often overlooked, thus discouraging
these victims from coming forward
for fear that they will not be believed.
Indeed, research conducted by the
charity ManKind has highlighted that
“male victims (29%) are nearly twice
