The Home Office issued a letter on 29 June saying that children who witnessed domestic violence would be classified as victims under new legislation.

The letter, written to Jess Phillips MP, also confirmed that children who see or hear domestic violence in their home would be acknowledged in a new statutory definition of domestic abuse.

A growing body of research explains that children who witness domestic violence are at heightened risk of developing long-term physical and mental health problems.

The decision to include children as victims rather than passive bystanders in domestic abuse settings comes after proposals to do so were included in a Bill which is currently passing through Parliament.

A clause in the Domestic Abuse Bill, which passed its report stage in the House of Commons today,  provides that a child who “sees or hears, or experiences the effects of, domestic abuse and is related to the person being abused or the perpetrator” must also be regarded as a victim of domestic abuse in the context of connected legal proceedings.

The Report stage of a Bill allows MPs to put forward any proposed amendments which are then considered by the Speaker.

The Bill features several provisions which look at issues such as banning cross-examinations of an alleged domestic abuse victim by their alleged or convicted abuser in family courts in England and Wales, and offering vulnerable witnesses alternate ways of offering evidence where court attendance might affect the quality of evidence being given.

The letter, written by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Office, Victoria Atkins MP and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, Alex Chalk MP, outlines the ways in which these measures will be applied.

The Bill has one more reading in the House of Commons before passing through to the House of Lords for evaluation.

For more information on the Bill and the government’s proposed framework for statutory guidance on domestic abuse and how to address it, please see the links below:

• Home Office: Draft Statutory Guidance Framework
• Domestic Abuse Bill 2020: factsheets
• Statutory definition of domestic abuse factsheet

Image by Ulrike Mai from Pixabay 

The government has announced that it will be offering an additional £2 million for domestic abuse charities affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The fund, which has been initiated by the Home Office, will offer support to domestic abuse charities “with a national or regional presence” affected by the outbreak.

Services which fall under the funding’s umbrella include those offering independent domestic violence advisors (IDVAs), CHIDVAs, family court support, face to face or remote counselling for individuals and/or their families, and support for BAME/disabled/LGBT victims.

Charities which provide support for “honour”-based abuse, forced marriage and female genital mutilation can also apply.

The guidance explains that in order to make a claim for funding, the primary purpose of the organisation’s service must be to give support to female and/or male victims who have experienced domestic abuse at any point in their life.

This includes adults and children.

However, organisations can’t use the funding to develop new projects or services which are not related to the COVID-19 response.

Organisations that meet the following criteria can apply for funding:

• Organisations which provide a national service (England and Wales)
• Organisations where the supported victims are very geographically dispersed over multiple police and crime commissioner (PCC) areas, and/or no one PCC area is the clear base for the majority of victims
• Umbrella or second tier organisations
• Organisations which do capacity building, or which support other organisations to support victims and survivors. This includes those supporting the police in their response to domestic abuse. It also includes those supporting local authorities or other statutory bodies.

The Home Office is in the process of finalising the application forms for the funding, which it says it hopes to have ready shortly.

You can access the press release and the guide here.

The Civil Legal Aid (Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, which extends the types of evidence that can be used by domestic abuse victims, or those at risk of abuse, to apply for legal aid, comes into force on 15th May.

The Regulations also action the following:

• The removal of the mandatory requirement to contact the Civil Legal Aid (CLA)
  Telephone Gateway for those seeking legal aid in discrimination, debt and special
  educational needs matters, reinstating immediate access to face-to-face advice in
  these cases;
• The introduction of a discretion for the Director of Legal Aid Casework (DLAC)
  to determine legal help funding, in relation to inquests, earlier than the date of
  determination and;
• The removal of the mandatory requirement that an applicant for legal aid for
  Family Mediation must always attend the mediator’s premises in order to make
  their application for legal aid.

This Explanatory Memorandum offers more information on the amendments, and you can access Regulation 33 here, which outlines the supporting documents allowed in domestic abuse applications for legal aid (click on the Latest Available tab for changes already made – some changes may still be outstanding).

And the Domestic Abuse Bill has its second reading today in the House of Commons.

The legislation hopes to create:

• The first ever statutory government definition of domestic abuse
• A Domestic Abuse Commissioner to support victims and survivors
• New Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Domestic Abuse Protection Orders to further protect victims and restrict offenders’ actions
• A ban on the cross-examination of victims by their abusers and alleged abusers in the family courts
• An automatic eligibility for special measures to support more victims to give evidence in the criminal courts

You can access a briefing on the Bill from the House of Commons library here.

A statement published by the Support Not Separation group asks the government to satisfy seven demands aimed at protecting vulnerable families during the outbreak.

The statement has been issued jointly with details of an online protest taking place later today.

The group, which campaigns to end discrimination against children and parents living in poverty, has called on the government to implement the following measures:

1. A Care Income for single mothers and other primary carers;
2. Appropriate emergency housing for women and children escaping domestic violence (we are adding France’s initiative to use hotels as a potential solution);
3. A freeze on rent, mortgage and utility bill payments until further notice;
4. Universal Credit should be paid immediately from day one;
5. Schools must provide free breakfast and lunch every day (the government has launched a vouchers scheme – some suggestions have been offered on social media to extend this scheme);
6. Resources must be provided for children in state “care” to have regular on line contact with their birth mothers, siblings and other family members and;
7. Children’s contact with fathers who have been reported for violence should be stopped.

The online protest, or Twitter Storm which is scheduled for 12.30pm-1.30pm, replaces the group’s monthly protests outside the Family Court in Holborn, London.

The group’s press release says, “We’ll use the hashtag #SupportNotSeparation in our tweets to the Minister for Children & Families, Vicky Ford MP @vickyford.”

The coalition has offered a series of tweets it will be sharing on the social media platform with the Minister, including:

• “Mothers must be able to afford to care for their children & keep them safe during #COVID19.  Poverty is not neglect. No child should be taken into “care” because parents can’t afford food, clothing or housing. #CareIncomeNow”
• “Family courts: stop taking children from their mothers; stop forced adoptions.”
• “Family courts: stop forcing children to have contact with violent fathers. CAFCASS: stop siding with violent fathers.”
• “Mothers are the first protectors. Support mothers to support children. #CareIncomeNow”
• “Children need their mums! Mothers need money and resources not child abduction!  #CareIncomeNow”

The coalition has invited people to add their own tweets as well.

Support Not Separation’s statement can accessed here, and we recommend reading it in full, as it contains a lot of important information.

You can also follow and interact with the coalition on Twitter @NotSeparation.

A sentence for controlling and coercive behaviour has been increased for the first time, after a scheme which was updated last year allowed sentences for domestic abuse to be reviewed.

Joshua Dalgarno had been regularly violent towards his girlfriend, which included him stabbing her in the leg with a pen knife, trying to pull a drip out of her arm while she was ill in hospital and smashing her head against a windscreen.

His girlfriend had been pregnant during some of the abuse she endured, but later lost the baby.

Dalgarno was initially given a 24-month community order at Taunton crown court in December, after being charged with controlling and coercive behaviour towards his former partner, taking a conveyance without authority and causing criminal damage.

This was not the first time the defendant had been in court. Dalgarno had several convictions dating as far back as 2009, which included four convictions for violence against previous partners.

He had also been arrested several times for domestic abuse incidents relating to his current victim.

After his second arrest for abuse towards the victim, he was released on  bail conditions, which stipulated that he could not contact his girlfriend. Dalgarno ignored the stipulation, stole her car, drove to her sister’s house and tried to break down the door.

Concerned by the light sentence Dalgarno was given, the solicitor general, Michael Ellis QC, brought the review of the case under the Unduly Lenient Scheme.

The scheme gives prosecutors, victims of crime, their family, and the public, the power to challenge sentences for offences included in the scheme.

Individuals can ask the Attorney General for a review of certain sentences they believe are too low.

Following on from the Attorney General’s submission to the court of appeal yesterday, Dalgarno was given a custodial sentence of 3 years’ imprisonment.

Responding to the increased sentence, Ellis said, “This is the first of its type and it’s particularly important to send a message that this type behaviour, which was graphic, which was prolonged, which was pernicious, must be met with appropriate criminal sanction.”

“It’s a matter of public policy that this type of appalling domestic abuse, including violence, should be met with a sentence that the general public would expect, namely one of imprisonment, and I’m pleased the court of appeal has increased the sentence accordingly,” he added.

Further reading:

• Victims of Child Sexual Abuse, Stalking and Harassment Can Now Challenge Lenient Prison Sentences
• Man branded ‘menace to women’ given increased prison sentence after jail term deemed too soft
• Domestic abuser Joshua Dalgarno, of Somerset, jailed by Court of Appeal

The government has promised to amend the Domestic Abuse Bill so that it includes a provision which places a legal duty on all councils to provide support to domestic abuse survivors.

The new duty is set to come into force in 2021.

The move was confirmed by Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick last week, in a press release on the government’s official website, while also announcing a further £15 million to run the support services in 2020 to 2021.

The Domestic Abuse Bill, which will contain the legal duty, will also include the first ever statutory definition of domestic abuse to specifically include economic abuse and controlling and manipulative non-physical abuse.

The proposed legislation will also create a new Domestic Abuse Commissioner and ban the cross-examination of alleged victims by their alleged abusers in the family courts. This ban is already in place inside the criminal courts.

The government also published its latest report on how the family courts protect children and parents in private law children cases involving domestic abuse and other serious offences. The progress update outlines the review’s objectives, its approach to evidence gathering and the next steps for the review.

The update confirms that the review’s panel members have finished the evidence gathering phase of the project and are now analysing the data with key stakeholders. The panel hopes to produce their final report in the coming months.

Legal Action for Women (LAW) is supporting a campaign to help a mother gain permission for her son to join her in the UK. Her son is alleged to be at risk of becoming a victim of honour killing after he helped his mother and sister escape domestic abuse.

We are adding the details from LAW below.

“Dear Friends,

Support not Separation is supporting this campaign for a member of the All African Women’s Group – a lesbian mum from Pakistan fighting to be reunited with her son. The immigration laws separate families but unlike the family courts there is nothing to stop public campaigning. One more reason why the family courts need to be open!

It would be great if you could write to the Home Office in support of Ms Mohammed (see link to template below) by 30 July. Please send a copy to the All African Women’s Group who will forward everything to Ms Mohammed in preparation for her Appeal Hearing in August.

Since the Home Secretary is no longer Sajid Javid but Priti Patel, we suggest sending emails with letters of support to this address: privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk.

Remember to send a copy of your letter to the All African Women’s Group aawg02@gmail.com

Best wishes,

Anne & Cristel

Support Not Separation (Legal Action for Women)”

The template for writing to the Home Office has been made available here.