Domestic Abuse Act 2021
The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act included provisions necessary to ratify the Istanbul Convention. Much of the content within the Act is still much debated. The Act is intended to help tackle domestic violence in the United Kingdom, which has been referred to as a "silent epidemic." There have been numerous suggestions to address the Act's protection of victims of domestic violence. The United Kingdom has also received criticism for taking eight years to carry out commitments following the Istanbul Convention. The Act Definitions The Act created the first statutory definition of domestic abuse to ensure that "domestic abuse is properly understood, considered unacceptable and actively challenged across statutory agencies and in public attitudes." The Act has created a genderless, broad definition which has not greatly expanded on the pre-existing cross-governmental definition. The definition is described in Section 1, which states that the behaviour must be "abusive" and the parties involved must be "personally connected" to each other. Section 1(3) describes abusive behaviour as: "physical or sexual abuse; violent or threatening behaviour; controlling or coercive behaviour; economic abuse; psychological, emotional or other abuse; and it does not matter whether the