DOMESTIC abusers who choke partners will face up to five years in jail under tough new laws.
Ministers will make “non-fatal strangulation” an offence. This form of abuse leaves no marks on victims — making it hard to prosecute under assault laws.
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The Domestic Abuse Bill also toughens up “revenge porn” laws to include threats to send people’s intimate images to others. And controlling abusers will now be prosecuted even if they do not live with their victims.
The proposals come as domestic abuse cases have risen sharply during the pandemic.
Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said: “From outlawing non-fatal strangulation to giving better protections in court we are delivering the support victims need to feel safer.”
Chancellor Rishi Sunak will unveil £19million for more Respite Rooms for vulnerable women and programmes to tackle domestic abuse in the Budget.
He said: “For many domestic abuse victims, the pandemic has worsened the nightmares they go through day-in day-out, with many left trapped.”
Campaigners welcomed the new legislation.
Lisa King from the charity Refuge said she was “thrilled”, adding that one in seven women reported they had received threats to share images.
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She said: “The Government has acted quickly and decisively.”
Domestic Abuse Commissioner Nicole Jacobs added the proposed changes were a “huge win for domestic abuse victims, charities and campaigners”.
She went on: “We know that 20,000 victims who were deemed at highest risk were subjected to non-fatal strangulation last year, and the new stand-alone offence will help protect them.”
The Sun says
WE have sadly had another epidemic: a surge in cases of domestic abuse.
The pressures of successive lockdowns may explain it but can never excuse it.
So it is good that sick abusers who throttle their partners to coerce and to bully them, short of killing them, will in future face up to five years in jail for the new offence of “non-fatal strangulation”.
It is good, too, that laws tackling “revenge porn” will be toughened, and better still that there will be more cash for Respite Rooms for vulnerable women, and programmes to end domestic abuse.
There must be shelter for those who need it, and no hiding place for abusers.
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