Home Secretary Theresa May has announced that a new offence, which covers the coercive and controlling behaviour of a person will be created.
The offence is expected to deal with the extreme psychological and emotional abuse endured by victims of domestic abuse. The maximum penalty for an offender will be five years in prison and a fine.
The Home Secretary explained: “Domestic abuse is a hideous crime that shatters the lives of victims, trapping them in cycles of abuse that too often end in tragic and untimely deaths.
“Coercive control can be tantamount to torture. In many cases, dominance over the victim develops and escalates over the years until the perpetrator has complete control. Putting a foot wrong can result in violent outbursts, with victims living in fear for their lives.”
Examples of coercive or controlling behaviour include where one party restricts the other from having contact with friends or family or restricting access to money.
The new law comes in response to a consultation earlier in the year regarding the current law on domestic abuse and whether it required improving.
The majority of those who took part in the survey in agreement that the law was insufficient, with 85 per cent saying victims weren’t protected, and a further 55 per cent calling for a new offence to clear up issues of coercive and controlling behaviour.
However, the government’s proposal has been criticised by domestic abuse charity Refuge.
Refuge chief executive Sandra Horley said: “We already have enough laws – the problem is that they are not being implemented properly.”
She added that due to the potential subtlety of these behaviours, sufficient evidence for a criminal conviction was hard to provide.