Extra powers for courts in domestic abuse crackdown
DOMESTIC abusers could be banned from drinking alcohol and electronically tagged under a Government crackdown.
Courts will have enhanced powers to slap restrictions on people convicted of tormenting their partners, spouses, children and other family members.
Theresa May will today launch a consultation on the plans as part of a tougher stance against domestic violence.
For the first time courts will be able to impose electronic monitoring as a condition of the proposed Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs).
Tagging could be used to check compliance with conditions such as an exclusion zone or alcohol ban. It could also be used to provide evidence of someone’s movements to help prevent further abuse, a Government consultation paper said. DAPOs would bring together the strongest elements from existing protective orders and allow courts to set a wider range of restrictions and for longer than the current 28 days.
Breaching any conditions attached to an order would be a criminal offence.
The draft Domestic Abuse Bill also introduces a new statutory definition of domestic abuse. It will also include “economic” abuse where victims are denied access to basic resources such as food and clothing or are forced to take out loans.
The Prime Minister said: “Domestic abuse takes many forms, from physical and sexual abuse, to controlling and coercive behaviour that isolates victims from families and has long-term, shattering impacts on their children.”
About 1.9 million adults aged 16 to 59 experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2017, the Crime Survey for England and Wales found.
Katie Ghose, chief executive of Women’s Aid, welcomed the consultation.
She said: “We want to see the Bill include policies on housing, education, health, immigration and the welfare system, to name but a few, to ensure every survivor and her child can safely escape domestic abuse.”