{"id":11360,"date":"2018-04-18T13:43:24","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T12:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/womensaid.org.uk\/?page_id=11360"},"modified":"2024-01-16T15:35:58","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T15:35:58","slug":"domestic-abuse-bill","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/womensaid.org.uk\/get-involved\/campaign\/domestic-abuse-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Domestic Abuse Act"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"11360\" class=\"elementor elementor-11360\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-71c6287f elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"71c6287f\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-7f46b8c3\" data-id=\"7f46b8c3\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-62e7e4c9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"62e7e4c9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 style=\"text-align: left;\">Domestic Abuse Act <strong>2021<\/strong><\/h1><p><span style=\"background-color: var(--ast-global-color-5);\">Four years after the domestic abuse bill was first promised in the Queen\u2019s Speech, it finally became law on 30th April 2021.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"background-color: var(--ast-global-color-5);\">Women\u2019s Aid pays tribute to the many survivors, campaigners and domestic abuse organisations who have made this new law possible.<\/span><\/p><p>Campaigning by survivors, activists and Women\u2019s Aid secured many vital changes to the Act \u2013 it now goes beyond criminal justice reforms alone, to cover the family courts, housing, and health. These are the key changes the new Act will deliver:<\/p><ul><li>A legal definition of domestic abuse which recognises children as victims in their own right;<\/li><li>A Domestic Abuse Commissioner to stand up for survivors and life-saving domestic abuse services;<\/li><li>A legal duty on councils to fund support for survivors in \u2018safe accommodation\u2019<\/li><li>New protections in the family and civil courts for survivors \u2013 including a ban on abusers from cross-examining their victims, and a guarantee that survivors can access special measures (including separate waiting rooms, entrances and exits and screens);<\/li><li>New criminal offences \u2013 including post-separation coercive control, non-fatal strangulation, threats to disclose private sexual images;<\/li><li>A ban on abusers using a defence of \u2018rough sex\u2019;<\/li><li>A guarantee that all survivors will be in priority need for housing, and will keep a secure tenancy in social housing if they need to escape an abuser;<\/li><li>A ban on GPs for charging for medical evidence of domestic abuse, including for legal aid;<\/li><li>A duty on the government to issue a code of practice on how data is shared between the public services survivors report to (such as the police) and immigration enforcement.<\/li><\/ul><p>However, the new Act has significant gaps, and not all women will be protected by the new law. Despite the tireless campaigning of Southall Black Sisters, the Step Up Migrant Women campaign led by the Latin American Women\u2019s Rights Service and the End Violence Against Women Coalition, the government has failed to deliver equal protection and support for migrant women through the new law.<\/p><p>All survivors must have the right to seek support and safety, and live a life free from abuse. We will continue to campaign for the law to protect all women and children from domestic abuse, and provide safety from abusers regardless of immigration status.<\/p><p>There are further omissions in the Act. Despite having a statutory duty on local authorities to fund support in \u2018accommodation based\u2019 services, the law does not use the word \u201crefuge\u201d at all. It is crucial that the guidance and regulations underpinning this duty to make crystal clear that local authorities must fund specialist women\u2019s refuges, which deliver expert support to survivors and their children.<\/p><p>Royal Assent of the Domestic Abuse Act was an important moment, but rather than being the end of Women\u2019s Aid\u2019s work, this provides us with a beginning. We will be working with our member services and statutory agencies to ensure the legislation translates to action. It is vital that it is delivered with training for professionals, resources and a clear implementation plan to provide the changes that survivors need to see.<\/p><h2>For more information:<\/h2><ul style=\"font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300;\"><li style=\"box-sizing: inherit;\">See the legislation in\u00a0<a style=\"box-sizing: inherit;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legislation.gov.uk\/ukpga\/2021\/17\/pdfs\/ukpga_20210017_en.pdf\">full<\/a>.<\/li><li style=\"box-sizing: inherit;\">Our\u00a0<a style=\"box-sizing: inherit;\" href=\"https:\/\/womensaid.org.uk\/womens-aid-statement-on-the-royal-assent-of-the-domestic-abuse-bill\/\">press release<\/a>\u00a0regarding royal assent of the domestic abuse bill.<\/li><li style=\"box-sizing: inherit;\"><a style=\"box-sizing: inherit;\" href=\"https:\/\/petition.parliament.uk\/petitions\/577718\">Sign our petition<\/a>\u00a0calling for local authorities to fund specific domestic abuse services for women.<\/li><li style=\"box-sizing: inherit;\">See\u00a0<a style=\"box-sizing: inherit;\" href=\"https:\/\/1q7dqy2unor827bqjls0c4rn-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Transforming-the-Response-to-Domestic-Abuse-Consultation-Response-from-Womens-Aid-31-May-2018.pdf\">our response<\/a>\u00a0to the government\u2019s consultation on the bill.<\/li><li style=\"box-sizing: inherit;\"><a style=\"box-sizing: inherit;\" href=\"https:\/\/womensaid.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Domestic-abuse-services-for-children-.pdf\">Read a joint briefing<\/a>\u00a0on key elements for a quality response to children\u2019s domestic abuse-related needs.<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5d8b62c8 elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"5d8b62c8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Domestic Abuse Act 2021 Four years after the domestic abuse bill was first promised in the Queen\u2019s Speech, it finally became law on 30th April 2021. Women\u2019s Aid pays tribute to the many survivors, campaigners and domestic abuse organisations who have made this new law possible. Campaigning by survivors, activists and Women\u2019s Aid secured many [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":881,"featured_media":17049,"parent":7051,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11360","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Domestic Abuse Act - Women\u2019s Aid<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/womensaid.org.uk\/get-involved\/campaign\/domestic-abuse-bill\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Domestic Abuse Act - Women\u2019s Aid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Domestic Abuse Act 2021 Four years after the domestic abuse bill was first promised in the Queen\u2019s Speech, it finally became law on 30th April 2021. 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