Authored By: Saffiya Badat
SOAS University of London
Introduction
The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (DAA 2021) saw the introduction of a statutory definition of domestic abuse. Section 1(3) of the Act categorizes the numerous types of ‘abusive’[1] behaviour. The DAA 2021 recognises both the physical aspects of domestic abuse, such as sexual abuse,[2] as well as the psychological aspects of domestic abuse, such as controlling and coercive behaviour.[3] The Act also extends the scope of ‘abuse’ to include economic abuse.[4]
Eradicating domestic abuse remains a widespread issue. The Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated that approximately 1.4 million women and 751,000 men[5] had been subject to domestic violence by the end of March 2023.[6] Several civil law remedies have been implemented within the United Kingdom aimed at tackling domestic violence. Responses to domestic violence have been the topic of heavy controversy in the UK. This article will analyse how domestic abuse victims have been failed by the state and law due to poor police responses to domestic violence in the UK and will highlight the prosecution of abused women under section 5 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 (DVCVA 2004). This article will also explore the inadequate responses to domestic abuse against males.
Poor Police Responses to Domestic Violence and the Prosecution of Abused Women under Section 5 of the DVCVA 2004
As noted by Herring, the United Kingdom has a “history of the criminal law not, in practice, taking domestic violence seriously”.[7] This is seen through the murders of Raneem Oudeh and her mother Khaola Saleem in August 2018, who were stabbed to death by Oudeh’s estranged husband, Janbaz Tarin. The IOPC documented how 10 domestic abuse incidents[8] had been reported to the West Midlands Police in the lead up to the stabbings, yet officers failed to carry out the “satisfactory intelligence checks”[9] when responding to these reports. Oudeh had succeeded in applying for a non-molestation order[10] against Tarin, one of the main domestic abuse remedies under section 42 of the Family Law Act 1996 (FLA 1996), prohibiting the perpetrator of the abuse from contacting, harassing or threatening violence towards the victim. Despite having a non-molestation order put in place and reporting the recurring incidents of domestic violence, officers failed to arrest Tarin in the run-up to the murders. Police officers failed to arrive at the scene of the crime despite several 999 calls made by Oudeh. This is a clear instance of how victims of domestic violence have been failed by the state and the law as police officers in Oudeh’s case ultimately failed to acknowledge the degree of violence that she had become increasingly exposed to. Whilst Oudeh had made several reports to the police as well as having the non-molestation order enforced against Tarin, officers had taken little action to protect the victim from her abuser. This reflects how “police data”[11] fails to recognise cases where protection orders are enacted into “place”[12] as argued by Bates and Hester, demonstrating the inefficiency of the enforcement of non-molestation orders. The poor police response to Oudeh’s reporting of her continuous domestic abuse significantly contributed to both her and her mother’s death further echoing how she had been failed by an agency of law enforcement.
Additionally, section 5 of the DVCVA 2004 creates an offence for failing to protect a child who has “died”[13] or has suffered from “serious physical harm”.[14] Whilst the DVCVA 2004 is deemed an “important aspect”[15] of domestic abuse law to ensure that children are protected and safeguarded from violence, this Act has been used against mothers who are victims of domestic abuse by their partners who have killed or harmed their child. A prime example of this is seen in ‘R v Green & Critchley’.[16] The victim in this case, Lia Green, was a three-year-old girl who had died due to severe internal injuries she suffered caused by her father, Richard Green. The victim’s mother, Natalie Critchley, was not present at the time the injury took place which resulted in Lia’s death. Critchley had also been a victim of domestic abuse at the hands of Green. Singh notes how prosecutors in the case relied on an incident in the aftermath of Lia’s death, whereby Green was “seen kicking and punching Critchley on a bus”.[17] Whilst Green admitted to and was charged with manslaughter, Critchley was subsequently charged with child neglect. Preston Crown Court held that Critchley “ought to have foreseen”[18] the risk of harm that the victim had become exposed to and should have taken further action to ensure her daughter’s safety. Overall, this reveals the “maternal omnipresence”[19] emphasised through section 5 of the DVCVA 2004 demonstrating its archaic nature. Section 5 of the DVCVA 2004 exhibits the insufficiency of domestic abuse legislation as the Act ultimately coerces abused women to testify against their abusive partners. This is a principal illustration of how victims of domestic abuse have been failed by the state and the law as the central focus of section 5 of the DVCVA is the failure to prevent death or serious physical harm from occurring rather than focusing on the perpetrator who physically caused the harm, revealing the “paradoxical”[20] nature of the legislation as a whole given its clear “aims”.[21] Furthermore, section 5 of the DVCVA also shows how victims of domestic abuse have been failed by the law as the Act ultimately manipulates women by criminalising their “vulnerability”.[22]
Inadequate Responses to Domestic Violence Against Males within the United Kingdom
The “public narrative”[23] regarding domestic abuse predominantly centres around female victims. Providing an insight into how male victims of domestic violence are mainly overlooked, Wright argues that the level of service provisions that are made available to female victims and male victims are “hugely disparate”.[24] Statistics generated by the ManKind Initiative in 2021 show that out of the 248 refuge spaces for victims of domestic abuse, only 58 were committed to supporting male survivors of domestic abuse.[25] The lack of inadequate services available for male victims of domestic abuse further demonstrates how victims of domestic violence have been failed by the state and the law in the UK. Failing to acknowledge male victims of domestic violence hinders their “ability to accept and recognise their experiences of abuse”.[26] Alex Skeel’s domestic abuse ordeal at the hands of his ex-partner, Jordan Worth, remains a prominent domestic violence case in Britain. Skeel had been made subject to an extensive list of injuries, including third-degree burns. Worth became the first female to be convicted and charged of grievous bodily harm and coercive and controlling behaviour in 2018. In the aftermath of Worth’s conviction, Skeel details how he continuously was in denial over everything that he had experienced in his ordeal until the moment Worth had been arrested suggesting his lack of recognition in identifying himself as a victim of domestic abuse. ManKind Initiative also note that in 2021, 49%[27] of the total number of males that were subject to domestic abuse failed to tell anyone that they themselves were victims illustrating how males are reluctant to report their experiences of abuse. Patriarchal ideologies view males to be “strong, stoic”[28] and “in control of their emotions”[29] illustrating the struggle amongst the state and law enforcement agencies to recognise males as victims of abuse. This indicates how the state and the law in the UK have failed male victims of domestic abuse as men often refuse to report their experiences of violence in fear of being subject to ridiculing and not believed.
Conclusion
From the points discussed throughout this article, it is evident that victims of domestic violence have been failed by the state and the law in the UK. Whilst various Acts have been enacted within the UK aimed at tackling domestic abuse, these provisions remain paradoxical in their nature due to the inadequacy of their enforcement. Poor police responses to domestic abuse are a prime example of members of law enforcement failing to protect victims of domestic violence. Section 5 of the DVCVA 2004 currently remains outdated in its nature and male victims of domestic violence is an current societal and legal issue that remains overlooked.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Cases
‘R v Critchley & Green’ (Preston Crown Court, 24 May 2013).
Legislation
Domestic Abuse Act, 2021
Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004.
Family Law Act, 1996
Secondary Sources
Articles
Bates L and Hester M, ‘No Longer a Civil Matter? The Design and Use of Protection Orders for Domestic Violence in England and Wales’ (2020) 42 Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 133 < https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09649069.2020.1751943 > accessed 27 December 2024.
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Singh S, ‘Criminalizing Vulnerability: Protecting “Vulnerable” Children and Punishing “Wicked” Mothers’ (2017) 26 Social & Legal Studies 511 < https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0964663916682825 > accessed 27 December 2024.
Singh S, ‘Punishing Mothers for Men’s Violence: Failure to Protect Legislation and the Criminalization of Abused Women’ (2021) 29 Feminist Legal Studies 181 < https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10691-021-09455- > accessed 26 December 2024
Wright C, ‘The Absent Voice of Male Domestic Abuse Victims: The Marginalisation of Men in a System Originally Designed for Women’ (2016) 1 Plymouth Law and Criminal Justice Review 333.
Books
Herring J, ‘Family Law’ (11th edn, Pearson 2023).
Websites
Broberg R, ‘Why Are Men Often Overlooked as Victims of Domestic Abuse?’ (The Centre for Social Justice, 14 June 2022) < https://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/newsroom/why-are-men-often-overlooked-as-victims-of-domestic-abuse > accessed 28 December 2024.
Jones P, ‘Domestic Abuse in England and Wales overview: November 2023’ (Office for National Statistics, 24 November 2023) < https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/domesticabuseprevalenceandtrendsenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2023 > accessed 26 December 2024.
‘Police Errors Contributed to Solihull Deaths’ (BBS News, 18 November 2022) < https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-63680822 > accessed 26 December 2024.
‘Statistics on Male Victims of Domestic Abuse’ (ManKind Initiative, June 2023) < https://mankind.org.uk/statistics/statistics-on-male-victims-of-domestic-abuse/#:~:text=In%202021%2F22%2C%2018%20men > accessed 27 December 2024.
[1] Domestic Abuse Act 2021, s 1(3).
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] ‘Domestic Abuse in England and Wales overview: November 2023’ (Office for National Statistics, 24 November 2023) < https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/domesticabuseprevalenceandtrendsenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2023 > accessed 26 December 2024.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Jonathan Herring, ‘Family Law’ (11th edn, Pearson 2023) 352.
[8] ‘Police Errors Contributed to Solihull Deaths’ (BBC News, 18 November 2022) < https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-63680822 > accessed 26 December 2024.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Family Law Act 1996, s 42.
[11] Lis Bates and Marianne Hester, ‘No Longer a Civil Matter? The Design and Use of Protection Orders for Domestic Violence in England and Wales’ (2020) 42 Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 133 < https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09649069.2020.1751943 > accessed 27 December 2024.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, s 5.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Herring (n 7) 350.
[16] ‘R v Critchley & Green’ (Preston Crown Court, 24 May 2013).
[17] Sarah Singh, ‘Punishing Mothers for Men’s Violence: Failure to Protect Legislation and the Criminalisation of Abused Women’ (2021) 29 Feminist Legal Studies 181 < https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10691-021-09455-5 > accessed 26 December 2024.
[18] Ibid
[19] Ibid, 184.
[20] Ibid, 192.
[21] Ibid.
[22] Sarah Singh, ‘Criminalizing Vulnerability: Protecting “Vulnerable” Children and Punishing “Wicked” Mothers’ (2017) 26 Social & Legal Studies 511 < https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0964663916682825 > accessed 27 December 2024.
[23] Coralie Wright, ‘The Absent Voice of Male Domestic Abuse Victims: The Marginalisation of Men in a System Originally Designed for Women’ (2016) 1 Plymouth Law and Criminal Justice Review 333, 334.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Rita Broberg, ‘Why Are Men Often Overlooked as Victims of Domestic Abuse?’ (The Centre for Social Justice, 14 June 2022) < https://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/newsroom/why-are-men-often-overlooked-as-victims-of-domestic-abuse > accessed 28 December 2024.
[26] Benjamin Hine, Elizabeth A Bates, and Sarah Wallace, ‘“I Have Guys Call Me and Say ‘I Can’t Be the Victim of Domestic Abuse’”: Exploring the Experiences of Telephone Support Providers for Male Victims of Domestic Violence and Abuse’ (2022) 37 Journal of Interpersonal Violence < https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0886260520944551 > accessed 27 December 2024.
[27] ‘Statistics on Male Victims of Domestic Abuse’ (ManKind Initiative, June 2023) < https://mankind.org.uk/statistics/statistics-on-male-victims-of-domestic-abuse/#:~:text=In%202021%2F22%2C%2018%20men > accessed 27 December 2024.
[28] Hine (n 26) 597.
[29] Ibid.
