New Law on Domestic Violence
- 19 Dec
Home Secretary Theresa May, has announced a new domestic abuse offence for ‘coercive and controlling behaviour' within relationships.
This behaviour can include the abuser preventing their victim from having friendships and family interactions, denying them access to money, and dictating the daily decisions they would make in their lives.
Ms. May expects the new law would protect domestic abuse victims from psychological and emotional abuse. The offence has a maximum of five years in prison along with a fine in England and Wales. Ms. May stated, "Coercive control can be tantamount to torture. In many cases, dominance over the victim develops and escalates over the years until the perpetrator has complete control. Putting a foot wrong can result in violent outbursts, with victims living in fear for their lives." BBC reports.
Furthermore, witness testimony could be supported at prosecution by providing documentary evidence of aggressive emails and text messages, or bank statements suggesting financial manipulation.
Chief Executive of Women's Aid Polly Neate, stated, "We hope this new law will lead to a real culture change, so that every woman experiencing control can get the support she needs to break free safely."
However, Chief Executive of Refuge Sandra Horley felt differently. She explained that creating a new offence would not help in dealing with the issue of domestic violence by stating ‘We already have enough laws - the problem is that they are not being implemented properly. The police don't even arrest when there is evidence of serious physical violence, so how are police and juries ever going to understand complex concepts like coercive control?' A recent report has criticised police forces in England and Wales for not dealing with domestic violence sufficiently.
Chief Executive of Citizen's Advice Gillian Guy, stated that the introduction of the new offence enables the government to convey to people that all forms of domestic abuse are intolerable.
What do you think of this? Tweet us your comments @suppsolutions
Image source: http://www.freeimages.com/assets/2/19385/punks-back-498917-m.jpg
Related articles
- 19 May
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE MENTAL HEALTH OF YOUNG PEOPLE
The online survey posed questions to 1,479 people between ages 14 to 24 to rate which social media platform (of YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter) negatively impact their users.The...
- 25 Jul
SOCIAL MEDIA APPS FOR HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS
INSTAGRAMGOOGLE TRANSLATEHOMESWAPPER MATCHESFACEBOOK LIVEWHATSAPPTAWKYou can download these apps online and via Android or IOS devices as well. Enjoy!What do you think? Please tweet...
- 17 Jun
FREE DEVICES AND APPS FOR BETTER HEALTH
Some of such devices and apps which will be available in April 2017 are:AliveCor- A mobile heart monitor (strapped to the back of a smartphone) which will also save NHS money, reducing need for...
- 08 Jun
#UKHousingFast
The #UKHousingFast is a social media campaign which is led by people living and working in social housing to support the activities of Trussell Trust.This fast is in its third year and will take...
- 26 Jan
Twitter leads national campaign for compassionate care
#HelloMyNameIs is a social media based campaign created by one doctor, Kate Granger, in order to encourage healthcare professionals to introduce themselves to patients.The campaign is now being...
- 23 Jan
Social media for housing associations
Online engagement between many commercial and charitable organisations and their clients and users has become very popular. However, many housing organisations have not succeeded as well as they...
- 22 Jan
An effective social media strategy for your social organisation
It is important to reach a position on social media where the community feels comfortable in sharing the content that you post.Your content should reflect the trust and integrity your users have for...
- 15 Jan
The Social Media Presence of Social Organisations
However, there are still many organisations who are not taking full advantage of social media platforms by not regularly updating their users and followers with content, nor sharing links that their...
- 15 Jan
Charity urges homelessness to be put to an end
Homeless Link, in its manifesto to end homelessness, has urged the next Government to end rough sleeping, ensure employment and welfare support, provide more homes and protect the rights of tenants,...
- 13 Jan
Instagram for your Social Organisation
It has beat Twitter in terms of number of users, but it is currently outperforming in terms of engagement as well.Instagram's engagement is 50 times higher than Twitter. The difference is a large...
Support Solutions 5th National Housing Support & Social Care Conference 2014 The Social and Financial return seminar was very helpful, helped me think about our approach to bidding, negotiating for funding and keeping hold of what we have! The New Technology seminar was really an eye opener- really got me thinking about potential applications for older people. P.M - Four Housing
