The government’s Domestic Abuse Bill is now before the House of Lords for debate, having completed its stages through the House of Commons on 6 July.
As it did so, government made some amendments which were all accepted without a vote. The key ones are:
- children are included in the definition of victims of domestic abuse;
- individuals who are homeless because of domestic abuse will have priority need for local authority-secured accommodation;
- banning the so-called ‘rough sex’ defence in cases involving infliction of serious harm, manslaughter or murder;
- prohibiting an alleged abuser from cross-examining the victim in court in certain circumstances; and
- allowing victims to be protected by special measures in family and civil proceedings.
