As part of the Government\u2019s ambition to protect and better support victims of domestic abuse, the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 introduces a range of measures to help protect victims of domestic abuse and their children. These include important new protections and support for victims ensuring that abusers will no longer be allowed to directly cross-examine their victims in the family and civil courts, and\u202fgiving victims better access to\u202fspecial measures\u202fin the courtroom, such as protective screens and giving evidence via video link. The Act also introduces measures to tackle levels of domestic abuse including new criminal offences such as non-fatal strangulation and suffocation and extending the coercing and controlling behaviour offence to remove the \u201cliving together\u2019\u2019 requirement, so that the offence applies to partners, ex-partners or family members, regardless of whether the victim and perpetrator live together.<\/p>
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Building on the Domestic Abuse Act, we have made substantial commitments in the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan published by the Home Office in March 2022, to better support victims of domestic abuse. Commitments include multi-year funding for victim support services which are crucial for helping victims engage in the criminal justice process. As part of this, the Ministry of Justice is bolstering support for victims by increasing its funding from £150.5m in 2021/22 to £185 million by 2024/25. This will ensure support is available to more victims and includes funding to increase the number of Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisers to over 1,000, and other key services like crisis helplines. A Perpetrator Strategy forms part of the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan and sets out clear commitments to prioritise addressing behaviour, stopping people from becoming perpetrators and victims in the first place.<\/p>
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Through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, we are also giving victims more time to report domestic abuse-related assaults by extending the time limit for prosecutions to six months from a formal report to the police within an overall limit of two years from the offence. We have also consulted and will publish a draft Bill which will continue to ensure victims are at the heart of the criminal justice system.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4399", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Victoria Atkins"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Louth and Horncastle"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Victoria Atkins"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-04-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "154370"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-04-25T17:08:55.323Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "54"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Justice"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2022-04-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Domestic Abuse: Victim Support Schemes"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what support his Department providing to victims of domestic abuse.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4671", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Afzal Khan"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Manchester, Gorton"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Afzal Khan"} ], "uin" : "154369"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 1, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }