Today the Domestic Abuse Bill became law, as the Domestic
Abuse Act.
Women’s Aid in Luton sends a BIG thank you to the many
survivors, campaigners and sister organisations who have worked hard and
campaigned for this.
However not everything has been achieved. There are gaps in
the legislation, which does not deliver protection for migrant women, despite
the tireless campaigning of @southallblacksisters, the Step Up Migrant Women
campaign led by the LAWRS and @evawuk. Insecure immigration status should never
be a barrier to accessing support.
We need guarantees that councils will securely fund
specialist women’s refuges under the statutory duty, as the Act does not
currently mention the word ‘refuge’ at all.
In addition, there has been no change to the Universal
Credit system which is currently paid by default into one account, enabling
economic abuse.
However, it is true that the Domestic Abuse Act will have
many benefits for survivors:
It will:
> Make threats to share intimate images a crime
>Potentially put refuge funding on a more sustainable
footing – though the amount of funding still falls short of what is needed to
ensure provision meets demand
> Give survivors of abuse priority need status when
applying for homelessness assistance
> Establish the #DomesticAbuse Commissioner’s office in law
> Recognise children in the statutory definition of domestic
abuse
> Include #EconomicAbuse in the statutory definition of domestic abuse
> Recognise post-separation abuse through coercion and
control in the criminal law
> Ban cross-examination of survivors by perpetrators in
the family and civil courts.
> Make non-fatal strangulation a specific crime
The above includes words by @Refuge and @Womensaid – thank
you for helping us to provide this explanation.