Wigan charity backs new domestic abuse laws

The House of Commons will take another look at the Domestic Abuse Bill later after several changes were suggested by the House of Lords

Author: Owen ArandsPublished 15th Apr 2021
Last updated 15th Apr 2021

MPs are set to take another look at a new set of laws this afternoon that aim to tighten up support for the victims of domestic abuse.

The new 'Domestic Abuse Bill' would introduce a number of changes to make sure support is accessible to all those who face abuse.

There are currently concerns that victims of some types of non-physical abuse such as emotional manipulation or cohesive behaviour can struggle to get help.

Gemma Braithwaite is from DIAS, a domestic abuse charity in Wigan who told us it's a vital piece of legislation:

"The Domestic Abuse Bill that is going through Parliament at the minute is a piece of legislation that aims to recognise domestic abuse in all of its many forms."

"Some of the statutory things that the act aims to do is to offer more protection and support for victims and enhance the safety and support that they receive."

"We need to provide support to victims to make sure that the cycle of abuse ends and to improve performance within local authorities."

"We need to drive consistency and better performance in response to domestic abuse, and to promote awareness and put domestic abuse at the top of everybody's agenda."

"One of the overarching things is that the bill will create a statutory definition of domestic abuse, which will emphasise that domestic abuse is not just physical violence, but it can also be emotional, coercive, controlling and economic abuse."

"It will also establish in law the Office of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and set out to detail the commissioners functions and powers."

"It will also place a duty on local authorities throughout the country to provide support to victims of abuse and their children."

"What the DA bill aims to do is to ensure that all areas of domestic abuse are recognised in law, a lot of people have a misconception that domestic abuse is only domestic abuse if they are physically harmed or there's an injury."

"Coercive control and emotional abuse are just as damaging, and should be recognised as abuse as well so it's making sure that there is that real firming up of the law."

"Hopefully what that will do is drive more of an understanding and an awareness around the different forms that domestic abuse can take."

Only a quater of domestic abuse incidents get reported to the police

Gemma added that she hopes the bill would mean more victims would feel able to come forwards to get support:

"We'll get people now that contact our service and will say 'the perpetrators never hit me, they've never laid a finger on me... I don't know if it's domestic abuse or not.'"

"So it's very much about ensuring that there is a statutory knowledge of the different types so that no abuse victim should ever feel like what they have gone through isn't understood."

"There are usually about 35 incidents of domestic abuse before a victim would even consider calling the police."

"It's making sure that there is that real firming up which hopefully will drive more of an understanding and an awareness around the different forms that domestic abuse can take."

The bill, which is being put before MPs this afternoon has had a number of changes suggested by the House of Lords.

These include:

Rules meaning local authorities have a duty to assess how well their own local support services are performing.

Tightening of the rules regarding Domestic Abuse Protection Orders meaning that perpetrators can be banned from coming within a certain distance of buildings e.g a victims workplace.

Tougher rules around revenge porn, meaning that the act of threatening to publish compromising videos of someone without their consent would be an offence.

The Domestic Abuse Bill won't become law today, both houses of parliament must agree on the exact wording of the bill before it can head be given the go ahead.