How to protect yourself if you are a victim of domestic abuse

Wondering how to protect yourself if you are a victim of domestic abuse can often seem overwhelming as you face up to the reality of your situation.

Approximately one in four women will, at some time in their lives, be a victim of domestic violence at the hands of their partner, ex-partner, parents, brother or other family members with some women unfortunately losing their lives. Whilst it is more common for women to suffer domestic violence at the hands of a man, anyone can be a victim of domestic violence and anyone can be a perpetrator of domestic violence.

Within the Crime Survey for England and Wales (25 November 2020), it is noted that for the 12-month period ending March 2020 an estimated 2.3 million adults aged 16 to 74 years experienced domestic abuse.

Within the Family Law Act 1996 a victim of domestic violence can protect themselves by applying to the court for a Non-Molestation Order. This application can be issued on notice or ex-parte (without notice). There was no legal definition of domestic violence (please see below for updated Domestic Abuse Bill) and the Family Law Act does not define molestation. However, the Government in a report dated March 2013 defines domestic violence as:

“Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. This can encompass but is not limited to the following types of abuse: psychological abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, financial abuse and emotional abuse.”

“Controlling behaviour is: a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour.”

“Coercive behaviour is: an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.”

“This definition, which is not a legal definition, includes so called ‘honour’ based violence, female genital mutilation (FGM)and forced marriage, and is clear that victims are not confined to one gender or ethnic group.”

A Non-Molestation Order is essentially an Order of the Court that prohibits the Respondent (the partner, ex-partner, family member etc) from molesting, using or threatening violence, harassing or even contacting you. The court can make a Non-Molestation Order in the following circumstances:

if an application for the Order has been made (whether in other family proceedings or without any other family proceedings being instituted) by a person who is associated with the Respondent, or;

if in any family proceedings to which the Respondent is a party, the court considers that the Order should be made for the benefit of any other party to the proceedings or any relevant child even though no such application has been made.

For you to be eligible to apply for a Non-Molestation Order, the Respondent has to be a sufficiently connected person. If they are not classed as a connected person, then you would have to apply for a Protection from Harassment Injunction. Connected persons are described as:

1. they are or have been married;
2. they are or have been civil partners;
3. they are cohabitants or former cohabitants;
4. they live or have lived in the same household otherwise than merely by reason of one being the other’s employee, tenant, lodger or boarder—this could include, for example, students or young people who may live in the same premises but have no sort of commercial arrangement;
5. they are relatives—relatives are defined as:
   1. the father, mother, step-father, step-mother, son, daughter, step-son, step-daughter, grandmother, grandfather, grandson or granddaughter of that person or of that person’s spouse, former spouse, civil partner or former civil partner, or;
   2. the brother, sister, uncle, aunt, niece or nephew or first cousin (whether of the full blood or of the half blood or by marriage or civil partnership) of that person or of that person’s spouse, former spouse, civil partner or former civil partner;
6. they have agreed to marry one another;
7. they have entered into a civil partnership agreement, as defined by the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (CPA 2004);
8. they have or have had an intimate personal relationship with each other that is or was of significant duration;
9. in relation to any child they are both either a parent or have parental responsibility for the child;
10. they are parties to the same family proceedings.

The Non-Molestation Order will forbid the Respondent from a variety of things that should provide the Applicant with some protection including but not limited to using or threatening violence against the Applicant, intimidating, harassing or pestering the Applicant, attending their property, encouraging any other person to do what they are forbidden to do etc. The Non-Molestation Order will be valid upon service of the same to the Respondent.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (“DAA 2021”) received royal assent on 29 April 2021. The DAA 2021 makes wide-ranging changes to the law, including as to the definition of abuse, the cross-examination of victims of abuse and much more. Home Secretary Priti Patel stated the following when discussing the DAA 2021:

“The Domestic Abuse Act is long overdue. This landmark act will transform the support we offer across society. This includes the support Government provides to victims to ensure they have the protection they rightly need, so that perpetrators of these abhorrent crimes are brought to justice.”

The DAA 2021 finally provides a statutory/legal definition of domestic abuse, to ensure that domestic abuse is properly understood, considered unacceptable and actively challenged across statutory agencies and in public attitudes. Victoria Atkins MP, Minister for Safeguarding stated:

“A statutory definition of domestic abuse will help to do this, emphasising that domestic abuse is not just physical or sexual violence, but can also be emotional, coercive or controlling, and economic abuse.”

The definition of domestic abuse is in two parts. The first part deals with the relationship between the abuser and the abused. The second part defines what constitutes abusive behaviour which includes physical, emotional and economic abuse.

Domestic abuse is defined in DAA 2021, s 1 as follows:

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 as defined in DAA 2021, s 1(4), or;
• psychological, emotional or other abuse.

And it does not matter whether the behaviour consists of a single incident or a course of conduct.

The DAA 2021 provides for the creation of the Office of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and the creation of new Police Powers in the Form of Domestic Violence Protection Notices. The DAA 2021 also provides for flexible, longer-term protection for victims with the creation of civil Domestic Abuse Protection Orders. Other key changes brought about with the DAA 2021 are as follows:

• the prohibition of perpetrators and alleged perpetrators of abuse from cross-examining their victims in person in the Family Court Proceedings;
• placing a duty on local authorities in England to provide support to victims of domestic abuse and their children in refuges and other safe accommodation;
• enhanced scope for special measures directions to be made in family (and other types of proceedings) where a person who is a party is a victim of or at risk of domestic abuse—the aim of the measures is to help victims of domestic abuse to give best quality evidence and participate in proceedings without there being any perpetuation of the domestic abuse they have experienced;
• enabling domestic abuse offenders to be subject to polygraph testing as a condition of their licence following their release from custody;
• placing the guidance supporting the domestic violence disclosure scheme on a statutory footing;
• increasing the court’s powers under section 91(14) of the Children Act 1989;
• ensuring that, where a local authority, for reasons connected with domestic abuse, grants a new secure tenancy to a social tenant who had or has a secure lifetime or assured tenancy (other than an assured shorthold tenancy), this must be a secure lifetime tenancy;
• broadening the scope of section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 (SCA 2015) (as to controlling or coercive behaviour) by widening the class as to who may benefit from protection to include anyone who has parental responsibility for a child and relatives of the perpetrator;
• broadening the scope of section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 so that a threat to disclose private sexual photographs or films with intent to cause distress becomes a criminal offence;
• broadening the scope of SCA 2015, Pt 5 (in connection with strangulation or suffocation of another person) if a person suffers serious harm that was either intended or reckless, including that it is no defence if the infliction of harm was consented to by the victim for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification;
• broadening the scope of section 189 of the Housing Act 1996 (HA 1996) so that a person who is homeless as a result of being a victim of domestic abuse now falls within the class that has a priority need for accommodation, together with an obligation on the local authority to grant a secure tenancy to a victim of domestic abuse;
• the introduction of a prohibition on charging a fee for the provision of medical evidence of domestic abuse in certain circumstances;
• extending the extra-territorial jurisdiction of the criminal courts in England and Wales to further violent and sexual offences.

When talking about the Domestic Abuse Bill 2021, the Commissioner, Nicole Jacobs states:

“So many campaigners, charities and individuals have worked incredibly hard to make the bill as robust as possible and there is no doubt that the legislation, which now includes non-fatal strangulation as a standalone offence, is much stronger as a result.”

The National Police Chiefs Council lead for Domestic Abuse, Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe, said:

“Supporting victims of this cruel crime and bringing offenders to justice remains a priority for the police and we have improved our response to domestic abuse across the country. Police attend more than one million incidents of domestic abuse each year, yet we know many victims will still not come forward.” 

How can a solicitor help you if you are a victim of domestic abuse?

A solicitor can help you navigate the court system and the laws surrounding domestic abuse. They are there to help you understand the process in the court arena and can assist you when applying for the Orders you need.

Legal Aid is available in certain circumstances to assist victims of domestic abuse in obtaining the Orders they require and in being able to protect themselves. Please contact us for further information on Legal Aid.