Revised domestic abuse bill details revealed
updated on 09 March 2020
Following the government’s pledge to end the cross-examination of domestic abuse victims by their perpetrators in court, a long-overdue and ‘enhanced’ version of the Domestic Abuse Bill recently returned to Parliament.
According to the Law Gazette, details of the revised version of the Domestic Abuse Bill, which was originally introduced in July 2019 and later dropped for the second time when Parliament dissolved at the beginning of November 2019, were revealed last week on Tuesday 3 March.
As well as offering additional support and protection to victims, the government explained that the long-awaited bill improves on the previous pledge and will now apply to all family proceedings where there is evidence of domestic abuse.
Despite these necessary and welcome improvements, the Guardian recently reported that the enhancements are lacking where children and BAME women are concerned. Director of the Latin American Women’s Right Service Gisela Valle said: “By neglecting to address the barriers experienced by migrant victims, the bill falls short of realising the government’s stated goals of protecting victims and tackling crime.”
Valle added: “We are disappointed that migrant survivors are once again overlooked in this bill in spite of the recommendations made last year by the parliamentary joint committee on the draft domestic abuse bill to establish a firewall to separate reporting of a crime and access to support from immigration control.”
Co-chief executive of Women’s Aid Federation of England, Adina Claire, said she was pleased that the government has responded to the organisation’s request for a wider cross-examination ban, but warned: “there remains a long way to go before the family courts are truly safe”.
Also commenting on the revised bill, Law Society President Simon Davis stated: “As the bill finally progresses through Parliament, we urge the government to put the necessary funding into legal aid, support services, education and wider government policy – giving victims the access to justice they so deserve.”
