It’ll take a huge culture change before new abuse laws work
EARLIER this month, new coercive control legislation came into force amid great fanfare.
In two decades of covering the subject of domestic abuse, I have learned to temper my hopes of “flagship” legislation bringing forth a new dawn.
It is tough enough to get justice for victims of a physical assault by their partner, never mind the far more nuanced crime of psychological abuse.
If laws are not used effectively in practice, we are left with only spin and virtue signalling.
In many corners of our system, violence perpetrated by a partner is still considered “just a domestic”.
A few years ago, when I was stalked by a man I had dated briefly, those words were said to me by a PC Plod.
This was after the sometimes 100 calls in a night and unwanted appearances at my door of a man who had caught three flights to reach me.
There were gifts left on my doorstep, emails and social media messages and slowly a sense of vulnerability wormed its way in to my head.
PC Plod was most perturbed that, as a journalist, my case would be “red flagged”, otherwise, “we could have filed this under just a domestic”.
The man was arrested but if that was how they dealt with a journalist used to navigating the system, how was some young vulnerable, powerless woman in a scheme faring?
Today, we carry the story of Paula McNeill and Amy Clarke, women who have spoken out to give voice to the many victims who cannot use theirs.
Paula has officially complained to police, claiming officers asked her to come and collect her alleged attacker, David Kerr, from the cells, hours after she claims he had assaulted her.
They arrested him at the hotel, after it was claimed he smashed up a room and – when asked over the phone by an officer if she had been assaulted – she denied it, which the policeman accepted.
She claims her head had actually been struck and she had been dragged by the hair along a corridor, with the bruises there if they had bothered to look.
Hotel staff saw her injuries and they were logged when she attended accident and emergency, yet her boyfriend was allowed out after only a few hours, with no restrictions and free to assault her twice in the following month.
His not guilty pleas on the incidents in Mull were accepted, although he plead guilty to attacking her in Paisley.
Paula had previously defended Kerr and even lodged a police complaint on his behalf but she was clearly under his control, such is the nature of domestic abuse. In court Kerr’s defence claimed Amy, who suffered six years of abuse from Kerr, had a “civilised interface” which him, which was news to her.
Yet no one questioned that claim and, when she found out, it was too late to contradict the statement.
In effect, she had been used to uphold his character when he is a man who tried to strangle her and almost destroyed her life.
Surely when such statements are made in court, their veracity should be checked and double checked?
It can take women dozens of attempts before they leave their abuser and many years until they are free from the psychological leash.
Until then, she will have walked into doors, defending her abuser, while convinced she really is worthless and at fault.
According to the Scottish Government and Police Scotland, officers are trained to understand the complexities and psychological impact of domestic abuse.
Sometimes women just need a couple of days of breathing space for the mist to lift enough to break free or they need the gentle assurance of an officer on the ground who may be the one person to start her on the road to freedom.
I fear that it will take much more training and a dramatic shift in culture before attitudes change and the laws on domestic abuse fulfill their potential.