At-risk women need action, not words

The creation of the new offence of coercive or controlling domestic abuse in 2015, combined with provisions in the current government’s domestic abuse bill, including the creation of a specialist commissioner, ought to mean that the situation for survivors across the UK is improving. The new tools are important ones for police, prosecutors and campaigners. A broader definition of abuse taking in psychological and economic factors was overdue. The bill, published in January, will outlaw the cross-examination of victims by abusers in the family courts and introduce new protection orders.

But advocates of women’s rights in the UK remained frustrated and alarmed. The willingness of MPs from different parties to work together on this issue has been a source of optimism. But while funding for the women’s sector is so tight, with 60 per cent of all referrals to refuges turned away in 2018 – and since access to justice is restricted by legal aid cuts and their knock-on effect on the supply of solicitors – it is impossible to claim that the UK is making progress. Before it has even been passed, the new bill risks being undermined by local cuts, which there is no mechanism to challenge. Nor will it adequately protect migrant women who are vulnerable as a result of “hostile environment” measures. International Women’s Day must herald a time for deeds not words.