Domestic abuse protections will be revived after Parliament shutdown, says Johnson

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has responded to pressure from women’s groups and MPs by promising that his government will revive a key domestic abuse bill that would have introduced protections for victims, but was cancelled due to his decision to shutdown Parliament.

The Domestic Abuse Bill was effectively dropped because it was not able to have a second reading before Johnson suspended Parliament on 9 September. The legislation, which had cross-party support, had sought to ban the in-person cross-examination of domestic abuse victims in certain circumstances. Currently, domestic abusers are still able to cross-examine their former partners in family courts – an ordeal faced by 24% of survivors according to a 2018 survey.

As the Law Gazette reports, the Centre for Women's Justice and other women’s groups and charities wrote to the prime minister last week demanding that the legislation be revived as a government priority.

Johnson announced yesterday: “Domestic abuse shatters lives and tears families apart. We are fully committed to tackling this horrific crime - which is why the Queen's Speech will confirm we will be reintroducing domestic abuse legislation in the next session.”

But Labour MP Jess Philips, who has campaigned for reforms to help domestic violence victims throughout her time in Parliament, questioned Johnson’s motives.

She tweeted: “Call me a cynic but Johnson coming out today saying they will have some sort of domestic abuse legislation couldn't possibly have anything to do with those of us seeking to intervene in the court case against prorogation because of the damage it does to the Domestic Abuse Bill.” Johnson is widely believed to have prorogued (suspended) Parliament in a bid to avoid scrutiny of his government’s approach to Brexit.

According to the BBC, 117 people were murdered by their domestic abusers last year, the highest figure for five years.