Domestic Abuse Bill is key opportunity to achieve joined up and effective support for victims

The Bill will introduce the first ever government definition of domestic abuse, establish the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and introduce new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders.

National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for domestic abuse, Deputy Chief Constable Louisa Rolfe, said:

“Police have improved our response to domestic abuse across the country despite resource pressure and increasing demand. In the year ending March 2018 police attended more than one million incidents of domestic abuse and investigated almost 600 thousand offences, yet we know many victims will still not come forward.

“Our job is to protect people and bring offenders to justice, but without effective support for victims and their families I am all too aware that some are left with a poor experience when they report abuse.

“We must work with others in education, probation, health, social care and housing to ensure support is joined up and intervention is effective. This bill provides a key opportunity to achieve this.”