Key Facts

• Amendment 40 is consequential on amendment NC16.
• New Clause 13 amends Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996.
• The clause updates the definition of 'domestic violence' to 'domestic abuse'.
• It removes the requirement for a person to be vulnerable in order to have priority need due to domestic abuse.
• Since the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 was implemented in April 2018, more than 200,000 households have had their homelessness prevented or relieved.
• New clause 16 will automatically give domestic abuse victims priority need for accommodation without requiring further vulnerability assessment.
• The shared accommodation rate exemption for victims of domestic abuse was announced in the spring Budget.
• New clause 13 aims to strengthen housing support for survivors of domestic abuse.
• Last year, nearly 2,000 households fleeing domestic abuse in England were not provided with a safe home due to not being considered priority need cases.
• The APPG’s amendment would guarantee automatic priority need and a legal right to a safe home for anyone applying due to domestic abuse.
• The Government's amendment requires the application to be made directly by the individual experiencing abuse, raising concerns about manipulation by perpetrators.
• The amendment seeks to include employer support in the Domestic Abuse Bill.
• It focuses on providing guidance to employers regarding support for victims, including provisions for paid leave.
• The Public Bill Office is thanked for its work behind the scenes.
• The Government expect all employers to show compassion when faced with cases of domestic abuse.
• Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse provides guidance for employers.
• Public Health England, in partnership with Business in the Community, offers a domestic abuse toolkit online.
• Statutory sick pay may be available if an employee is suffering from physical injury or psychological harm due to domestic abuse.
• The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy launched a review of support in the workplace for victims of domestic abuse ending September 9, 2020.
• The amendment would place a duty on the Secretary of State to publish separate statutory guidance on teenage relationship abuse.
• The guidance must address sufficient levels of local authority service provision for victims and perpetrators.
• It must be published within three months of the Act receiving Royal Assent and reviewed bi-annually.
• The current Bill defines domestic abuse as taking place between persons above the age of 16.
• According to the NSPCC, 25% of girls aged 13 to 17 have reported physical relationship abuse.
• The Children’s Society found that 25% of young people worked with had experienced physical abuse in relationships, and 57% had experienced emotional abuse.
• The Bill's definition states parties must be aged 16 or over for domestic abuse.
• Clause 66 of the Bill relies on this definition for statutory guidance.
• Relationships education will cover healthy relationship characteristics from primary school onwards.
• Misogyny is considered the root cause of violence against women and girls.
• The amendment would require all police forces to record misogyny as a hate crime.
• Sex was the motivation for more than half of the hate crimes reported by women last year.
• Some 42% of BAME women aged 14 to 21 reported unwanted sexual attention at least once a month.
• The Law Commission was tasked with reviewing current hate crime legislation starting in March last year.
• The review aims to gather views through events across England and Wales.
• Clause 66(3) states that guidance must take account of the fact that most victims of domestic abuse are female.
• The majority of the Bill's provisions apply to England and Wales or England only.
• Some limited provisions extend to Scotland and Northern Ireland.
• Part 6 extends criminal courts' reach in each part of the UK.
• New Clause 15 amends the Sentencing Code by adding references to domestic abuse protection orders.
• New clause would prevent consent from being used as a defence in cases involving serious injury or death due to domestic abuse.
• The Crown Prosecution Service requires consent from the Director of Public Prosecutions for charging less than murder in homicide cases with domestic abuse injuries.
• Immediate family consultation and legal advice provision before the Director's decision on charges below murder.
• New clause 11 aims to provide anonymity for victims in domestic homicides where sexual activity is involved.
• New clause 14 provides lifetime press anonymity for survivors of domestic abuse during criminal proceedings.
• The new clauses create an offence with fines up to level 5 on the standard scale for breaching these protections.
• Natalie Connolly was killed by John Broadhurst who claimed she had consented to rough sex.
• The 'rough sex defence' has led to lesser convictions or sentences for perpetrators in many cases.
• There have been 67 recent cases of individuals being killed during so-called consensual violent sexual activity, with 60 victims being female.
• In the past five years, 18 women and girls have been killed in claimed consensual violent sexual activity.
• We Can’t Consent To This found 115 cases of women who had been injured in non-fatal assaults claiming consensual sex.
• Prosecutors declined to pursue charges against a man accused of sexual assault due to fears he would claim it was consensual, citing lengthy legal proceedings and difficulty in disproving consent.
• Pre-existing case law (R v. Brown) makes it clear that a person cannot consent to injury or death during sex, but this defence works in 45% of cases where men kill women during sex.
• New clause 14 seeks anonymity in press coverage for survivors of domestic abuse.
• The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) lacks specific guidelines for journalists on how to report domestic abuse cases.
• Victims named in the press are less likely to report domestic abuse, according to RISE charity in Karen Buck's constituency.
• New clauses 4 and 5 aim to address the issue of consent in violent deaths but may not have the intended effect.
• The law of homicide is complex, requiring careful consideration to avoid unintended consequences.
• The case Crown v. Brown established important legal principles that need clarification.
• New clauses 6 and 7 require personal DPP consent in cases of domestic homicide for charges or pleas less than murder.
• The Bribery Act 2010 is the only recent example where such a consent function applies.
• The Crown Prosecution Service handles high volumes of serious and complex casework nationwide.
• Family liaison officers operate within guidance but their effectiveness depends on individual calibre, kindness, and empathy.
• New clause 6 addresses consent of the DPP at charge time but could face practical challenges due to time constraints and evidentiary rules.
• New clause 10 aims to prevent defendants from arguing victim consent in cases but is not limited to such situations.
• Reporting restrictions under new clauses 11 and 14 aim to protect deceased victims' reputations and living complainants, respectively.
• The press sometimes suggests that courts overreach themselves in imposing reporting restrictions.
• There is a public interest justification in taking exceptional interference when allegations of sexual violence are involved.
• The Government will set out its approach on the 'rough sex' issue for Report.