Crime: Domestic Violence

Baroness Thornton Excerpts

Tuesday 13th May 2014 Grand Committee

Asked by

[Baroness Thornton]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to criminalise a pattern of behaviour, psychological abuse and coercive control in domestic violence cases.

[Baroness Thornton (Lab)]

My Lords, I am pleased to be able to bring forward this debate for the Grand Committee. The essence of the Question is whether here in the UK we have a legal framework that fully and adequately captures the nature and harm that is domestic violence, and I am genuinely asking whether a more comprehensive criminal law is required to close the gap between the current response and the long-term oppression and suffering of victimised women and children. I thank all those who have put down their names to speak in the debate.

Too many women have already lost their lives and more will continue to do so if we fail to understand coercive control as the dangerous behaviour that it is and to recognise the serious emotional harm that is caused to the victims of domestic violence. I would like to start by asking the Minister some questions about the current state of affairs. Since coercive control and psychological abuse were included in the March 2013 domestic violence definition, which of course I welcome, how many prosecutions have made use of this definition? How many convictions have there been for coercive control and psychological abuse since coercive control was included in the definition? How many prosecutions have there been under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 for causing alarm and distress in domestic violence cases where the victim and perpetrator are still in an ongoing relationship? The important question that needs to be answered here is whether the Minister thinks that the law is working as well as it should. That is because we need to know if the existing framework, and indeed the support that needs to be wrapped around it, is working effectively, and thus whether the law on domestic abuse needs to be further strengthened.

We know that domestic abuse is very complex and involves many forms of behaviour. Some victims say that the psychological abuse and control they suffer at the hands of their partner is “the worst part”. What are the Minister’s thoughts on this and the possibility that the current legislative framework fails to recognise it? The experts in this field, Women’s Aid and the Paladin National Stalking Advocacy Service, both say that there is a criminalisation gap which ensures that the pattern of domestic violence and control remains outside the reach of the existing criminal law, which prohibits only discrete incidents of physical injury. This is an appropriate debate because the office of the Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner is today hosting a conference with criminal justice partners to discuss what is and what is not working in this area. There have been workshops with victims of domestic violence and the discussion of issues such as early intervention.

In March 2013, the Government changed the definition of domestic violence to include coercively controlling behaviour, which is very welcome. However, non-physical abuse, although integral to the ongoing exercise of violent control, seems to be disregarded and thus tacitly condoned. Put simply, the law does not conceive of many women in abusive intimate relationships as being the victims of ongoing abuse. By criminalising this form of violence and having specialist legislation, similar to the stalking law introduced in 2012, would this send a message that abusive and coercively controlling behaviour within a relationship is as unacceptable as physical violence and that it will not be tolerated?

Paladin has formed a partnership with Women’s Aid and the Sara Charlton Charitable Foundation. They have carried out research, which has brought them to the conclusion that this criminalisation gap should be closed. They feel that the laws used to prosecute domestic violence—which include assault, burglary, property, breach of a restraining order, rape, kidnapping and murder—do not describe its essence. Patterns of power and control are missed. It misses the fact that domestic violence is about fear, coercive control and continuing acts. The totality of the behaviour and the non-physical manifestations of power and control that define an abusive relationship do real harm to victims and are not recognised in criminal law.

Interestingly, it is only after separation that the very same behaviour which was exerted in the relationship—control—is then criminalised: we call it stalking. Therefore the moment after a break-up becomes legally meaningful, separation, can be the most dangerous time for women. Of course, this is also very expensive. As far as I can tell, the figures from 2009 suggest that domestic violence costs the Government over £16 billion per year.

The question this debate raises is whether the law needs to be modernised. If we are to challenge the behaviour of perpetrators appropriately, do we need an offence that reflects the reality of domestic abuse in all its guises? According to Home Office statistics, domestic violence is more likely to result in repeat victimisation and injury than any other type of crime. However, the Crown Prosecution Service only prosecutes for a single incident and tends to focus on the injury level, while failing to take into account the course of conduct, the pattern of coercive controlling behaviour, and fear as a measure of harm. As a direct result, the seriousness of the pattern of abuse is not identified or understood, women become entrapped, abuse and rape become normalised, and no one goes to prison without injuries being present.

As we know, many women do not report until behaviour has escalated and there may be injuries, and for many that comes too late. Research by Women’s Aid indicates that the majority of women only report violence to the police after it has been going on for between six months and five years. When they do report it, each episode is treated as an isolated incident and, therefore, often as a low-level misdemeanour. That results in very few perpetrators being held to account for the totality of their behaviour. Therefore, is it surprising that victims struggle to understand why the full impact of their experiences cannot be taken into account by police and prosecutors? We have to ask: does the absence of such a crime undermine the victims of abuse and collude with perpetrators, as many of their acts go unseen and unchallenged?

The research I mentioned already, the Victim’s Voice survey, which was published in March, showed that 98% of victims were subjected to controlling, domineering or demeaning behaviours in their relationship. I will mention just a few of those behaviours: isolation from friends, family and colleagues; removal of all communications devices; food being withheld as well as use of the toilet; control of what the victim should wear, how they should style their hair and where they can work; stalking by means of tracking and following; deliberate sleep deprivation; threats of sexual abuse or rape; and threats to harm or kill children and/or pets. I could go on.

When asked if those behaviours had been taken into account by the police, 88% said that they had not. Clearly, we have an issue here. One of the issues is of course whether the police are dealing with the framework that already exists, and how that works. Certainly on this side of the Room, Labour would establish an independent commissioner for domestic and sexual violence to champion victims’ voices and drive improvements, starting with national standards for the delivery of services and training as recommended by ACPO.

However, is it true that the police are often big on words and developing policy which is then not delivered as regards either action or a true understanding of the issue? Do we think that there is a problem there? Too many times the woman who is murdered or badly hurt has been begging the police to provide protection and deal with her abuser. Too often the same victims are calling for protection from the same perpetrators, and time and again opportunities to intervene and protect families are missed.