Today, the Government will publish a ground-breaking domestic abuse bill to support victims and their families and pursue offenders.
Key facts: The Government is introducing a series of measures to promote domestic abuse awareness, support victims, tackle perpetrators and improve services, after it was revealed that domestic abuse affects 6 per cent of all adults and cost England and Wales £66 billion between 2016 and 2017.
· We’ve made a total of 120 commitments to tackle this horrific crime, including the first ever statutory definition of domestic abuse to specifically include economic abuse and recognise the impact of controlling and manipulative non-physical abuse.
· Non-legislative actions will see further support for children affected by domestic abuse as well as elderly, disabled, male and migrant victims and those in the LGBTQ community.
· We are barring abusers from cross-examining their victims in the family courts and giving courts greater powers, including new protection orders, to tackle this hideous crime.
· The new measures include £8 million of Home Office funding to support children affected by domestic abuse, as well as supporting survivors by bolstering the protection for victims and helping to expose and bring the vile abusers to justice.
Why this matters: Domestic abuse shatters lives around the country. Protecting victims and their children, as well as supporting survivors, is at the heart of our strengthened response to this horrific crime.
