DOMESTIC VIOLENCE BILL IS WELCOME — BUT IS THE LAW ITSELF OPEN TO ABUSE?

THE rules around sexual relationships are now bewilderingly grey. What constitutes sexual consent? To what extent does a woman need to take responsibility to keep herself safe? And the blurred lines between sexual harassment and pitiful attempts at courtship have been thrashed out with little resolution.

Now another issue has come to the table. Psychological abuse and controlling behaviour in relationships is to become a criminal offence. Known as “coercive control”, it will be included in the Domestic Violence Bill 2017. If a person is found guilty of it, they can be punished with up to five years in prison.

It was put forward by Minister of State for Justice David Stanton and it will come before the Dail before Christmas or in early January. But is a few short weeks enough to thrash out the realities of a law that will have massive repercussions on broken relationships which come before our courts?

Domestic violence campaigners have called it “hugely significant”. They say it could save lives. In the most extreme cases of psychological abuse and controlling behaviour, this is a positive step. We all know domestic abuse is often a lot more than physical violence. But how do we ensure the law is not left open for misuse?

Many forms of behaviour defined as emotional or psychologically abusive are commonplace in unequal relationships.

For example, some domestic violence campaigners say psychological abuse and coercive control includes degradation, micromanagement, manipulation, checking up on a partner and controlling where they can go and who they see. All patterns in a toxic relationship that someone needs to leave? Absolutely. But abusive to the point that it is punishable by imprisonment?

In modern-day relationships, checking a partner’s mobile phone is commonplace. Will this be defined as controlling behaviour? If so, many couples could be in trouble. Of more than 2,000 surveyed by Mobile Phone Checker in the UK, 62pc of men and 34pc of women snoop through a loved one’s phone. And we are not talking about innocently perusing a photo album. The vast majority (89pc) said their sole motivation was to make sure their partner was not talking to anyone else in a romantic or sexual way.

The other concern is the problem of evidence. Even if controlling or coercive behaviour is introduced as a criminal offence, how easy will it be to prove in court? The Irish law is based on legislation in the UK, but across the water they are already coming up against problems.

Police forces in England and Wales have apparently been ‘neglecting’ to use the law, using it only 62 times in its first six months. Eight forces didn’t use it at all. This is despite the fact that, prior to the introduction of the law, Citizens Advice reported involvement in close to 4,000 cases of financial and emotional abuse per year.

The vast majority of domestic abuse takes place behind closed doors, without independent witnesses, and it often comes down to one person’s word against another. With the laws in place for physical abuse, research shows our legal system at every level is often failing those living with physical violence in their homes. So how will a law surrounding something as subtle and untraceable as psychological and coercive abuse have any impact?

There is also the fear it could be misused by a malicious spouse who wants to maintain custody of children. Niamh Farrell, general manager of Amen, a charity which deals with male victims of domestic violence, says she has serious concerns that some women, who are awarded custody in the vast majority of cases, will use claims of psychological abuse to give them even more power in the court system.

The same could, of course, also be said of a vindictive man.

In the UK, domestic abuse charity Refuge opposed the law, saying the solution to domestic abuse does not lie in enforcing more laws.

Chief executive Sandra Horley said: “The police don’t even arrest when there is evidence of serious physical violence, so how are police and juries ever going to understand complex concepts like coercive control?

“We need to get back to basics. The police response to domestic violence is lamentable — forces across the country are failing in their most basic of policing duties towards victims of domestic violence.”

There is much to be discussed. But whether or not there will be any serious debate on it in the Christmas countdown remains to be seen.