Relevant legislation
The following legislation is relevant to this policy:
- The Domestic Abuse Act 2021
- Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act (2014)
- Care Act (2014)
- Civil Partnership Act (2004)
- Crime and Security Act (2010)
- Data Protection Act (2018)
- Domestic Abuse Crime and Victims Act (2004)
- Equality Act (2010)
- Family Law Act (1996)
- Female Genital Mutilation Act (2003)
- Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act (2007)
- Homelessness Act (2002)
- Housing Act (1996)
- Protection from Harassment Act (1997)
- Serious Crime Act (2015)
- Clare’s Law (2017)
Statutory definition of domestic abuse
The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 defines domestic abuse as:
Behaviour of a person (“A”) towards another person (“B”) is “domestic abuse” if:
- A and B are each aged 16 or over and are personally connected to each other, and
- the behaviour is abusive
- Behaviour is “abusive” if it consists of any of the following:
- physical or sexual abuse;
- violent or threatening behaviour;
- controlling or coercive behaviour;
- economic abuse (see subsection (4));
- Psychological, emotional or other abuse; and it does not matter whether the behaviour consists of a single incident or a course of conduct.
- “Economic abuse” means any behaviour that has a substantial adverse effect on B’s ability to:
- acquire, use or maintain money or other property, or
- obtain goods or services.
- For the purposes of this Act A’s behaviour may be behaviour “towards” B despite the fact that it consists of conduct directed at another person (for example, B’s child).
- References in this Act to being abusive towards another person are to be read in accordance with this section.
Who can experience domestic abuse?
Domestic abuse can affect anyone, regardless of age, disability, gender, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation. Domestic abuse can also manifest itself in specific ways within different communities.
Women are disproportionately more often the victim of domestic abuse and men are disproportionately more often the perpetrators in police recorded crime and Crime Survey of England and Wales data. Female victims and survivors are more likely to be identified as high-risk or repeat victims.
Many men in Norfolk experience domestic abuse and when they do, they experience similar consequences to women. Further, there is stigma for men related to the societal assumption that domestic abuse victimisation is gendered, which can act as a barrier to male victims and survivors reporting incidents.
It is important to remember the experiences of children and young people who are living with domestic abuse and their needs in any decisions made about the adult victim and survivors. Witnessing domestic abuse is one of ten Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the 2021 Domestic Abuse Act identifies children as victims of domestic abuse if they see, hear, or otherwise experience domestic abuse between two people where the child is related to at least one of them.
As part of our responsibility to safeguard children, Norwich City Council has made a FLOURISH pledge to prioritise the safety and welfare of children and young people whenever we are aware of domestic abuse and work closely with other agencies enabling children to access early support.
Definition of “personally connected” - for the purposes of this Act, two people are “personally connected” to each other if any of the following applies:
- they are, or have been, married to each other
- they are, or have been, civil partners of each other
- they have agreed to marry one another (whether or not the agreement has been terminated)
- they have entered into a civil partnership agreement (whether or not the agreement has been terminated)
- they are, or have been, in an intimate personal relationship with each other
- they each have, or there has been a time when they each have had, a parental relationship in relation to the same child (see subsection (2))
- they are relatives.
For the purposes of subsection (1)(f) a person has a parental relationship in relation to a child if:
- the person is a parent of the child, or
- the person has parental responsibility for the child.
You can find the full definition of domestic abuse at legislation.gov.uk
Honour based abuse is a form of domestic abuse. There is currently no statutory definition of Honour Based Abuse in England and Wales, but a common definition has been adopted across government and criminal justice agencies: ‘A crime or incident which has, or may have been, committed to protect or defend the honour of the family and / or community’.
Honour Based Abuse can take many forms, including child marriage, virginity testing, enforced abortion, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, as well as physical, sexual and economic abuse and coercive control.
