My Lords, I have tabled the amendment in order to enable this House to have a debate concerning bringing domestic violence within the scope of the Bill. I also welcome Amendment 49C, which is grouped with mine and goes further in a direction with which I concur, although I none the less feel it would be useful to have the words of my amendment in the Bill.
The amendment was tabled partly in anticipation of the fact that Members of the other place are likely to table amendments on domestic violence during the Bill’s later stages and it was thought that, as a result, this place too should have an opportunity to debate this serious offence. The amendment is therefore an enabling amendment and seeks to argue that changes to the law on domestic violence should be within the scope of the Bill.
Last February, my colleague, Elfyn Llwyd MP, introduced a ten-minute rule Bill in another place to criminalise all aspects of domestic violence, including coercive control in a domestic abusive situation. That Bill had all-party support, including MPs from five parties, such as Cheryl Gillan, Robert Buckland, Sandra Osborne, John McDonnell, Bob Russell, Caroline Lucas and Hywel Williams. The objectives of that ten-minute rule Bill have been supported by more than 100 MPs in Early Day Motions that called for coercive control to be an offence in its own right.
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Domestic violence is without doubt a serious crime. A principal aim of the amendment would be to encourage more victims of domestic violence to come forward and report the crime, as well as to secure more thorough
investigations by the police, and therefore more successful prosecutions. The purpose of Elfyn Llwyd’s Bill was to place a statutory framework around domestic violence since, at present, there is no specific law covering this offence. Indeed, the fact that coercive control is not an offence is a contributory factor to the low rates of reporting, of arrests, charging and of convictions. According to Women’s Aid, less than 7% of domestic violence incidents reported to the police lead to a conviction. Currently, 25% of domestic violence cases passed on to the Crown Prosecution Service result in no action being taken.
Elfyn Llwyd’s Bill followed on from the highly successful campaign during 2011-12 for the introduction of stalking laws in England and Wales, which was spearheaded by Elfyn Llwyd, and advised by Laura Richards, a leading criminal behaviour psychologist, and Harry Fletcher, then of Napo. Under the terms of that Bill, a person convicted of coercive control could face up to 14 years’ imprisonment. The Bill placed statutory responsibilities on the police to develop and implement domestic violence policies, to provide written policies that encourage the arrest and charge of a perpetrator, and to make investigation of complaints a priority. The Bill also created domestic violence orders, which would prevent further contact that could in itself amount to domestic violence, prohibit the perpetrator from engaging in certain activities, including contact with the victim or children of the victim, and exclude the perpetrator from the victim’s home.
In addition, the Bill would have prevented a victim from having to disclose details of their address or whereabouts in open court, thereby preventing the perpetrator from having this information. Members of this House will be concerned to learn that, this time last year, a victim of abuse who was in a place of safety was required by a judge in the north of England to disclose where she was living, despite the fact that her abuser was present in court. That cannot be allowed to continue. The Bill also gives the court the power to undertake a risk assessment on the impact of domestic violence on the victim and, importantly, on their children.
Probation staff have been concerned for years about the extent of domestic abuse, low reporting rates and how few convictions result from reported incidents. The Probation Service provides victim liaison, women’s safety officers and perpetrator programmes. All of these services are under threat from privatisation and cuts. Plaid Cymru’s leader, Leanne Wood AM, previously served as a probation officer. I would like to draw to the House’s attention a highly relevant comment she made recently on this issue. She said:
“In my many years’ experience as a probation officer and a women’s aid support worker, I worked with countless women and their children who had been severely damaged by domestic abuse. Even though there is wider awareness today and a range of support services, instances of domestic abuse do not appear to be diminishing. In my work, I often came across professional people in various organisations who made assumptions about emotional abuse not being as serious as other forms of abuse, especially violence. It’s difficult to compare years of put-downs and public humiliations or being told you have a mental illness when you don’t, to individual physical assault. All forms of abuse can have long-lasting and deep consequences and recognition of that is vital if we are to make sure that victims and survivors get the justice and the services they need to recover”.
Similarly, Harry Fletcher, who was involved in drafting Elfyn Llwyd’s Bill, and who is now director of the Digital Trust, a new organisation committed to fighting online abuse, which is frequently seen in cases involving coercive control, has said:
“It is outrageous that so few women have confidence to report domestic violence to the police and that the number of convictions as a percentage of all violence is so low”.
He has also commented that the original Bill was based on the successful experience of naming domestic violence as a crime in the United States. Emulating this experience from the United States would go a long way towards protecting vulnerable women.
In the UK there are scores of domestic violence-related homicides or incidents of serious harm every year. Last year 7% of women, according to the Home Office, reported having experience of domestic abuse, which is equivalent to 1.2 million women a year. Two out of three incidents were experienced by repeat victims. The Home Office also reports that two women are killed by a partner, ex-partner or lover every week.
By contrast, the situation in the United States, where specific laws exist, is quite startling. Since laws were introduced at various times over the past 20 years, reporting has increased by nearly 50% and incidents of violence have decreased by over one-third. Plaid Cymru MPs are currently conducting research into how the laws covering domestic violence operate across the United States and I am sure that there is much that we could learn from their experience.
It is essential that domestic violence is perceived as a serious crime. If the Government are presented with an opportunity to strengthen the law, they must surely seize that opportunity. I hope that Members of this House will signal their support for such a change in the law. I beg to move.