Domestic violence
By Nicola Laver
Non-fatal strangulation is to be criminalised under new amendments to the Domestic Abuse Bill. This will cover behaviour including suffocation and other methods affecting someone’s ability to breathe. It will carry a prison sentence of up to five years. The revenge porn offence will also be widened to cover threats to share intimate images; controlling or coercive behaviour will be extended to include abuse in situations where the former partners of family members no longer live together. The bill is now at the report stage.
1 March 2021