THE DOMESTIC ABUSE BILL OF 2020

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The Domestic Abuse Bill of 2020

Introduction

The UN recognizes that violence against women and girls is a widespread, devastating human rights violation globally¹. This violation contradicts the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, domestic abuse has become a pervasive problem in the United Kingdom. The crime survey for England and Wales estimated that over 2.3 million individuals between 16 and 74 years experienced domestic abuse as of March 2020². Domestic abuse mostly affects women who accounted for 1.6 million of the 2.3 million adults who experienced domestic abuse.³ This factor has been a substantial issue that has captured the attention of numerous stakeholders. Consequently, the UK House of Commons passed the critical Domestic Abuse Bill on July 6, 2020, to curb this challenge in the country. This study will evaluate how passing the Domestic Abuse Bill 2020 in the UK will solve problems that abused women face in seeking legal remedies and protective measures.

Domestic violence against women in the UK

Domestic violence is among the hindrances that the UN has identified in achieving the 2030 SDGs agenda⁴. The United Nations (UN) defines domestic abuse as a behavioral pattern in a domestic relationship that seeks to establish control over a partner.⁵ Domestic abuse can be physical, economic⁶, psychological, emotional⁷, or sexual.⁸ Also, the identified behaviors encompass manipulation, intimidation, humiliation, and physical violence, among others. Domestic violence mainly affects women and girls in many global regions. As indicated above, domestic violence against women is a significant problem in the UK. Over 1.6 million women faced domestic abuse in the year ended in March 2020. This rate has remained constant for over 15 years, indicating the need for more robust policies and actions to combat domestic abuse. Men are mainly the perpetrators of these abuses, but the number of female perpetrators has risen sharply.⁹

Although the number of abused women has remained consistent in the UK, the country has introduced several measures to curb this problem. For instance, the country has a 24-hour national helpline for all victims of domestic abuse. Many stakeholders have also acknowledged the problem, meaning it is gaining more attention and concern. This factor makes it more likely that stakeholders will come up with practical solutions. In addition to this, many more victims are coming out and reporting their ordeals to the police.¹⁰ The police recorded about 1.288 million domestic abuse incidents in the year ended March 2020 compared to the 2.3 million documented cases. This number accounted for a 7 percent rise in the recorded instances from the previous year. These aspects reveal that the UK remains committed to reducing domestic abuse in the country.

Impacts of domestic violence against women

Domestic violence against women has substantial adverse impacts on their health and wellness. These health impacts encompass physical, mental, sexual, and reproductive health.¹¹ Bodily injuries are the primary health impacts of domestic violence. Emotional and psychological negative consequences are also common among abuse victims¹². In addition to this, domestic abuse pushes women to harmful behaviors like alcohol and drug abuse and suicide. These results are mostly prevalent in abused women who do not report the incident. These health effects have both individual and social costs. The health cost of caring for abused women is a significant problem in many countries where domestic violence is widespread. Families also undergo several impacts, with many becoming dysfunctional¹³. This factor affects abused women’s mental health further. This analysis thus indicates that domestic abuse has individual, family, and social impacts.

In addition to health and wellness impacts, domestic violence also has financial effects on victims, families, and society. Domestic abuse against women affects their health, making them underperform in their workplaces. This aspect can lead to loss of employment, affecting these women’s financial status and making them even more vulnerable to domestic violence. These women must also spend their incomes seeking treatment and therapy for their injuries, lowering their consumption, saving, and investment capabilities. According to several researchers, class oppression due to poverty is a primary determinant of domestic abuse. Women in lower financial classes are more likely to experience domestic abuse. Furthermore, families with abused women who lose their jobs go on to face financial problems. Generally, society will also experience these economic challenges as domestic abuse becomes more widespread¹⁴. Consumption and capital formation capabilities will decline in such an economy. The UK economy loses £66 billion annually to domestic abuse.¹⁵

The Domestic Abuse Bill of 2020

Despite the adverse impacts of domestic abuse on women, many abused women still face challenges seeking legal redress or protection from this issue. The Domestic Abuse Bill of 2020 aims to remedy this situation. This bill relies on expert recommendations and scientific studies to solve domestic abuse. For instance, The Task and Finish Group’s report recommends stronger leadership across public services, better education, awareness, and consistent and high-quality integrating services to curb domestic violence.¹⁶ Another study suggests that strategies for solving domestic violence should be perpetrator-focused¹⁷. Examples of these interventions are those that guarantee safety to victims. Many victims often feel threatened even when seeking legal protection or redress; hence, these strategies are critical in ensuring abused women can report their experiences.

On July 6, 2020, the UK’s house of commons passed the Domestic Abuse Bill.¹⁸ Many stakeholders view the bill as a landmark that will revolutionize the campaign against violence against women in the country. The UK’s laws and statutes that dealt with domestic violence were outdated and insufficient. Thus, this new bill ensures that the country is up to date with the relevant laws that are effective against domestic abuse.¹⁹ The bill’s central aspect is that it creates a statutory definition of domestic abuse that encompasses the various facets of abuse: physical violence, emotional, coercive, controlling, and economic abuse. These incorporations are essential because domestic abuse is not merely physical violence. Jane’s,²⁰ Husna’s,²¹ and Halima’s²² cases show the importance of including emotional, sexual, and financial abuse as domestic violence, respectively. The Domestic Abuse Bill also makes it easier for women to report their abuse experiences.

Impacts of the Domestic Abuse Bill of 2020

This report has indicated that the Domestic Abuse Bill of 2020 has provided a statutory definition and explanation of domestic abuse. The law states that domestic abuse is any form of physical, emotional, economic, coercive, and controlling violence, behavior, or abuse. Initially, the UK’s legal statutes only perceived domestic abuse as physical violence. This factor was disadvantageous because it locked out many domestic abuse victims from seeking help or protection.²³ Many victims did not understand that domestic abuse transcends physical violence and may include other forms of manipulation or threat.²⁴ For instance, Husna states that she was unaware that sexual abuse is a form of domestic violence.²⁵ Therefore, the bill’s definition of this problem will help more victims receive the help or protection they need. The country’s legal system will also include more abuse forms in legal proceedings, guaranteeing justice for more victims.

Another factor that prevents abused women from seeking legal help is the usual court processes that continue to victimize victims. Many abused women do not report perpetrators or seek justice against them because they are unwilling to go through a legal trial.²⁶ However, court proceedings are the most common ways to seek redress. If a victim is reluctant to go through a trial, then perpetrators remain unpunished. The Domestic Abuse Bill of 2020 solves this hurdle by prohibiting abusers from cross-examining victims in the family courts.²⁷ Although this solution does not exempt victims from participating in court proceedings, it removes the main obstacle that victims face in court. Many victims are unwilling to face their abusers; this law guarantees that abusers will not cross-examine survivors.²⁸

The Domestic Abuse Bill of 2020 will also help women seek protective measures and legal help by mandating local authorities to assess victims’ needs for refugee services.²⁹ Women’s Aid Federation of England defines refuge as a safe house in which abuse victims and survivors can live to escape their abusers and stay free from fear.³⁰ Any woman or children can go into a safe house within or far away from their home area. Refuge services are vital because they protect victims from their abusers, especially after reporting to local authorities.³¹ Many abusers turn violent when victims report their actions, and refuge services help to protect these victims.³² The Domestic Abuse Bill of 2020 will help victims who seek protective measures by guaranteeing that local authorities can determine the need for and commission refuge services.

Raising awareness about domestic violence is another way the Domestic Abuse Bill of 2020 can help abused women seek protective measures and justice. Raising awareness and challenging assumptions about domestic violence is one of the policy objectives of the Domestic Abuse Bill of 2020.³³ This objective seeks to initiate a cultural transition regarding domestic abuse and how society responds to this problem.³⁴ Victims should feel safe after reporting their experiences. They should also be sure that they will get the protection and justice they deserve.³⁵

Shortcomings of the Domestic Abuse Bill of 2020

Although the Domestic Abuse Bill of 2020 has many positive impacts on victims, many stakeholders have pointed out that it overlooks migrants and children. Women and children form the population category that is more likely to experience domestic abuse. However, even though the bill seeks to protect women from domestic abuse, it has overlooked the needs of other vulnerable groups like children and migrant women.³⁶ Migrant women are most at risk because their uncertain immigration status prevents them from seeking help from the police. Also, perpetrators use this insecurity to threaten victims and stop them from seeking support or protection.³⁷ Children are also vulnerable because they lack the knowledge and capacity to seek legal help.³⁸ Therefore, the government should find solutions to help these vulnerable populations.

Conclusion

This study has evaluated how the Domestic Abuse Bill of 2020 will help more abused women to seek legal redress and protection. The research has identified that domestic abuse persists in the country, with millions of women experiencing at least one form of abuse. The Domestic Abuse Bill of 2020 seeks to make it easier for these women to come out and report their ordeals. The law motivates women to take this action through several strategies including, statutorily defining more forms of abuse other than physical violence, enabling local authorities to commission refuge services for all abuse victims, and raising awareness about this problem. However, the law has overlooked the needs of migrant women and children.

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