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On 17 May, the Home Secretary Theresa May said that the police are still not taking domestic abuse seriously enough as a crime.
Domestic violence – or to use the wider term domestic abuse – was redefined in 2013 as: “any incident of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those who are 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. The abuse can encompass but is not limited to: psychological, physical, sexual, financial and emotional”.
On 29th December 2015 a new criminal offence of “coercive control” was put on the statute books. National domestic violence support organisations, such as Women’s Aid as well as smaller local organisations, had been saying for years that domestic violence is not limited to physical abuse. In very many cases psychological and emotional abuse has a devastating effect. Indeed, the Helen and Rob story line in The Archers is doing a great deal to highlight the impact on victims of psychological abuse and coercive control.
The views of the Home Secretary come at a time when the police are under fire, especially in South Yorkshire, and when they are being subjected to huge budget cuts. Whilst new laws are to be welcomed, they are of little use if they are not being applied.
In our experience as family lawyers, the police have changed their attitude to domestic abuse in the last decade or so. Thankfully, clients rarely report that the police have said “it is only a domestic”, which used to be the case. Victims of domestic abuse are now referred to specialist officers and provided with practical support, such as their addresses being tagged. Each situation is risk assessed and a plan is formulated which is likely to involve other agencies. There do remain the odd few reports when clients say the police have refused to do anything; this may be a training issue for individual officers.
When the Family Court can help
When the police either do not act, are limited in what they can do, or simply because the victim does not feel able to involve them, the Family Court can provide protection by way of injunction proceedings. There are two types of injunctions available under the main family law statute, the Family Law Act 1996. These are: non-molestation orders and occupation orders. A non-molestation order stipulates that the perpetrator must not use or threaten violence against, intimidate, harass or pester a victim and must not allow any third party to do so. These days non-molestation orders can also cover postings on social media. A perpetrator found to be in breach of an injunction can be sent to prison, the maximum sentence is 5 years.
The family court can also make an occupation order excluding a perpetrator from the family home. Breach of this kind of injunction can result in a custodial sentence.
The Family Court can also grant injunctions in cases where someone is at risk of being a victim of a forced marriage or female genital mutilation. Legal Aid is still available for all types of injunctions for those who are financially eligible. Further, if an injunction is obtained then Legal Aid becomes available for court proceedings involving children or financial issues.
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