Legislation and Policy

Have you or someone you loved experienced domestic abuse? You might be curious if the laws in your consider what you experienced to be a crime and if the law in your region protects you. Below is a very brief overview of domestic abuse laws in the UK. But it is important to know that some behaviour that is unacceptable is not technically illegal. If your experiences do not make you technically the victim of a crime, you may still very well be experiencing abuse. You do not need to prove you have been the victim of a crime to reach out and use services and resources for domestic abuse survivors.

Many people who experience abuse “minimize” their experiences. Do you say things like “it was bad, but not as bad as [someone else’s experience]”, “they didn’t touch me, so it wasn’t serious”, “I made them mad, it’s not their fault and it wasn’t a big deal”, or anything else along those lines? It is normal to think that your situation is not serious, but if you are experiencing something that hurts you or makes you feel fear toward a loved one, you can reach out to domestic abuse services. The laws listed below do not change what you have experienced.

Domestic Abuse Laws and Regulations

Adults (16+)

Here in Scotland, domestic abuse laws recognize both physical and non-physical forms of abuse. As of 2019, an update to the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 recognizes violent, physical, sexual, psychological and financial abuse. Domestic abuse can take many forms and may include any of the following:

• Verbally threatening a partner or kids
• Name-calling
• Controlling what a partner does, where they go, who they talk to, etc.
• Isolating a partner from friends and family
• Falsely accusing a partner of poor behaviour publically or privately
• Sharing or threatening to share personal information/images (i.e., sexual orientation, intimate images, etc.)
• Hitting, kicking, punching, or throwing objects at a partner or kids
• Forcing a partner to participate in sex or specific sexual acts
• Controlling or monitoring a partner’s personal finances

Kids (15-)

As of 2019, kids in Scotland have equal protection from assault as adults (Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Act 2019). Before this act, parents could use a legal defence called “reasonable chastisement” to physically punish their children. The new act has removed this defence and so it is now illegal for any caregiver to physically punish (assault) a child in Scotland.

Exposing children to abuse between partners is also considered abuse of the child.

Laws in the rest of the UK

The laws surrounding domestic abuse in each of the four regions making up the UK are quite similar. However, the laws surrounding child abuse differ. For instance, Wales passed legislation making it illegal for parents to hit their children in 2022, but physical punishment of one’s kids is still legal in England and Northern Ireland. For more information about laws and regulations regarding child abuse across the UK, please visit the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children – Learning site.

For more information on domestic abuse laws in the UK, please visit the Overreaching Factsheet for the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.