The Domestic Abuse Act 2021, for the first time in UK history, gave us a statutory definition of what constitutes domestic abuse. For reference, we have reproduced that definition below. For a plain English version, skip to our conclusion at the end.
(1) This section defines “domestic abuse” for the purposes of this Act.
(2) Behaviour of a person (“A”) towards another person (“B”) is “domestic abuse” if;
(a) A and B are each aged 16 or over and are personally connected to each other, and
(b) the behaviour is abusive.
(3) Behaviour is “abusive” if it consists of any of the following;
(a) physical or sexual abuse;
(b) violent or threatening behaviour;
(c) controlling or coercive behaviour;
(d) economic abuse (see subsection (4));
(e) psychological, emotional or other abuse;
And it does not matter whether the behaviour consists of a single incident or a course of conduct.
(4) “Economic abuse” means any behaviour that has a substantial adverse effect on B’s ability to; acquire, use or maintain money or other property, or obtain goods or services.
(5) For the purposes of this Act A’s behaviour may be behaviour “towards” B despite the fact that it consists of conduct directed at another person (for example, B’s child).
(6) References in this Act to being abusive towards another person are to be read in accordance with this section.
(7) For the meaning of “personally connected”, see section 2.
(1) For the purposes of this Act, two people are “personally connected” to each other if any of the following applies;
(a) they are, or have been, married to each other;
(b) they are, or have been, civil partners of each other;
(c) they have agreed to marry one another (whether or not the agreement has been terminated);
(d) they have entered into a civil partnership agreement (whether or not the agreement has been terminated);
(e) they are, or have been, in an intimate personal relationship with each other;
(f) they each have, or there has been a time when they each have had, a parental relationship in relation to the same child (see subsection (2));
(g) they are relatives.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(f) a person has a parental relationship in relation to a child if;
(a) the person is a parent of the child, or
(b) the person has parental responsibility for the child.
(3) In this section;
(a) “child” means a person under the age of 18 years;
(b) “civil partnership agreement” has the meaning given by section 73 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004;
(c) “parental responsibility” has the same meaning as in the Children Act 1989 (see section 3 of that Act);
(d) “relative” has the meaning given by section 63(1) of the Family Law Act 1996.
It is important to note that according to the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, it is only required that two people have been personally connected. They do not need to be currently in a relationship or cohabiting for domestic abuse to be present.
Once it has been established that two people are personally connected, if one's behaviour towards the other consists of any of the following: (a) physical or sexual abuse; (b) violent or threatening behaviour; (c) controlling or coercive behaviour; (d) economic abuse; (e) psychological, emotional or other abuse; then it can be found, in law, that domestic abuse is present.
This, in theory, is a particularly interesting development in the law for us at DACLAS and our beneficiaries, as now, it is recognised in law that domestic abuse can continue past the ending of a relationship and/or cohabitation, for example, in private child arrangements.
For a more detailed view of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and the sections relevant to private child law arrangements, please see our page on the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.