Family law guide
By Iblal Iqbal
Part of: Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs): The New Protection Order Explained
The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 is the law that gave England and Wales its first legal definition of domestic abuse. It became law on 29 April 2021 and came into force in stages. It covers control, money and emotional abuse as well as violence, treats children who live with abuse as victims, and changed how the family court protects you when you face an abusive ex.
This guide takes the Act part by part for someone affected by abuse. It explains who the definition covers, which new offences exist, what the family court does differently, which parts the government is still testing and what the Act means for a case about your children or your home.
If you are in danger now, call 999. Our guide to domestic abuse helplines explains how to call 999 when you cannot speak, and how to cover your tracks after reading a page like this.
Key takeaways
- Domestic abuse in law is abusive behaviour between two people aged 16 or over who have a personal connection. One incident can be enough (s.1).
- Abusive behaviour includes controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse and psychological or emotional abuse, not only violence (s.1(3)).
- A child who sees, hears or lives with the effects of the abuse is a victim in their own right (s.3).
- In the family court, an abusive ex cannot question you in person where the Act’s conditions apply. The court finds another way to put the questions (s.65).
- Domestic abuse protection orders exist only in pilot areas for now. A non-molestation order is still open to you everywhere in England and Wales.
Wondering whether what is happening to you counts, or what the Act changes in your court case? You can book a free initial consultation with one of our specialists.
What did the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 do?
It wrote a single definition of domestic abuse into law and built new protections around it, in the criminal courts, the family court and housing. It also created a Domestic Abuse Commissioner and a new protection notice and order, which the government is still piloting.
Before the Act, “domestic abuse” was a policy description that changed from one agency to the next. Now the police, councils and courts work from the same words in section 1. The Act has seven parts, and the ones most people meet are these:
- Part 1 sets out the definition, who counts as personally connected and children as victims.
- Part 2 creates the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, an independent office that watches how public bodies respond (s.7).
- Part 3 creates domestic abuse protection notices and orders.
- Part 4 puts a duty on councils in England to support victims in safe accommodation, such as refuges (s.57).
- Part 5 covers protection for victims in court, including special measures and the ban on cross-examination in person.
- Part 6 adds new offences and changes to old ones, such as non-fatal strangulation and the rough sex defence.
How does the law define domestic abuse now?
The law treats one person’s behaviour towards another as domestic abuse if both are aged 16 or over, they have a personal connection, and the behaviour is abusive. It does not matter whether it was a single incident or a course of conduct (s.1(2) and (3)).
Section 1(3) lists five kinds of abusive behaviour:
- physical or sexual abuse
- violent or threatening behaviour
- controlling or coercive behaviour
- economic abuse
- psychological, emotional or other abuse
Economic abuse is any behaviour that has a substantial adverse effect on your ability to get, use or keep money or other property, or to obtain goods or services (s.1(4)). Running up debt in your name or stopping you working can fall here. Our guide to economic abuse in the family court explains how it affects a financial settlement. The law can also treat behaviour aimed at someone else, such as your child, as behaviour towards you (s.1(5)).
Who counts as personally connected?
Two people have a personal connection if they are or were spouses or civil partners, agreed to marry or to form a civil partnership, are or were in an intimate personal relationship, are both parents of the same child or both have parental responsibility for them, or are relatives (s.2(1)). You do not have to have lived together.
So the definition covers an ex you dated but never lived with, and the other parent of your child even if you were never a couple in any lasting way. A flatmate or neighbour you were never close to is not, although harassment law can still protect you from them.
When is a child a victim under section 3?
A child under 18 counts as a victim when they see or hear the abuse, or experience its effects, and one of the two adults is their parent, has parental responsibility for them or is their relative (s.3). The child does not have to be in the room or suffer an injury themselves.
This matters when the family court decides where a child lives or how they spend time with a parent. The court follows Practice Direction 12J whenever anyone raises domestic abuse, and it looks at the harm to the child from what they lived through as well as the harm to you.
How does the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 define coercive and controlling behaviour?
It names controlling or coercive behaviour as one form of domestic abuse but does not define it further. The meaning comes from the criminal offence in section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015, which the 2021 Act widened to cover ex-partners who no longer live together.
Under the original wording, an ex-partner was only covered if you still lived together (s.76(2) as first enacted). From 5 April 2023, section 68 replaced that test with the same “personally connected” list as the 2021 Act. Repeated or continuous control after you separate can now be prosecuted, with a maximum of five years in prison (s.76(11)).
Control often carries on through money, the children and the court process itself after a relationship ends. Our guides to coercive control and post-separation abuse explain how to evidence it.
Which new offences did the Act create?
The main new offence is non-fatal strangulation or suffocation, in force since 7 June 2022. The Act also made threats to share intimate images a crime, a protection that now sits in the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Strangulation is an offence when someone intentionally strangles you, or does any other act that affects your ability to breathe and amounts to battery (s.70, inserting s.75A into the Serious Crime Act 2015). It carries up to five years in prison. Consent is no defence where serious harm results and the person intended it or was reckless about it. Strangulation often leaves no visible mark, so tell the police and a doctor even if you look unhurt.
The intimate image offence in section 69 was moved on 31 January 2024 (s.69, now omitted). Threatening to share an intimate photo or film to make you fear it will happen is now an offence under section 66B(4) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
What does Section 71 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 state?
Section 71 says that consent to serious harm for sexual gratification is not a defence to assault causing actual bodily harm, wounding or grievous bodily harm. It came into force when the Act was passed, on 29 April 2021 (s.90(1)).
Many people call it the end of the “rough sex defence” (s.71). It applies to offences under sections 18, 20 and 47 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, whoever’s gratification was claimed. There is one narrow exception, about consensual sex with someone known to have a sexually transmitted infection.
What changed in the family court?
Two things changed for anyone facing an abusive ex in the family court. You are presumed eligible for special measures, such as screens or a video link, and in many cases your ex is banned from questioning you in person.
From 1 October 2021, court rules must assume that a victim of domestic abuse, or someone at risk of it, gives poorer evidence and takes part less fully because of that vulnerability (s.63). You do not have to prove your fear before the court considers special measures, although you can say you do not want them. Our guide to special measures in the family court explains what you can ask for.
When can an abusive ex not question you in court?
Since 21 July 2022, a party cannot cross-examine you in person if they have been convicted of, cautioned for or charged with a specified offence against you. The same applies if an on-notice protective injunction is in force between you, or if specified evidence of domestic abuse is put before the court (s.65, inserting ss.31R to 31T into the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984).
The court can also stop it in other cases where questioning in person would harm the quality of your evidence or cause you significant distress. When the ban applies, the court first looks for another way to put the questions. If there is none, your ex can instruct a lawyer for that part, and if they do not, the court can appoint one (s.31W). Our guide to cross-examination in fact-finding hearings explains what happens on the day.
Which parts of the Act are still being rolled out?
Part 3, which creates domestic abuse protection notices and orders, is in force only in named pilot areas. Under the current commencement regulations the pilot runs until 24 November 2026 (s.27, commencement notes).
The pilot areas are Greater Manchester and the London boroughs of Bromley, Croydon and Sutton from 27 November 2024 (SI 2024/1191), Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees from 11 March 2025 (SI 2025/319), and Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham in North Wales from 28 April 2025 (SI 2025/515). The end date has been pushed back twice, most recently by SI 2026/342, so check with us whether the orders reach your area when you need them.
Where they apply, the police can give an abuser a notice on the spot, and a court can make an order on the balance of probabilities if it is necessary and proportionate (s.32). Breaking an order is a criminal offence (s.39). Our guides to DAPNs and DAPOs cover how they work and where.
What if you do not live in a pilot area?
Outside the pilot areas, you can still apply to the family court for a non-molestation order under the Family Law Act 1996, with no court fee (GOV.UK), and breaking it is a criminal offence with up to five years in prison (s.42A). An occupation order can decide who lives in the home.
How does the Act help with housing?
If you are homeless because of domestic abuse, a council in England must treat you as in priority need for accommodation, without a separate test of vulnerability. That rule has applied since 5 July 2021 (s.78, amending s.189 of the Housing Act 1996).
Section 78 also uses the Act’s definition when a council asks whether it is reasonable for you to stay in your home, so control and economic abuse count as well as violence. Separately, every relevant council in England must assess the need for refuge and other safe accommodation and publish a strategy to meet it (s.57).
Domestic Abuse Act 2021 timeline: when each part took effect
What applies to you can depend on when the abuse happened, because each part started on its own date.
| What changed | Section | In force |
|---|---|---|
| Legal definition of domestic abuse, including economic abuse | ss.1 and 2 | 1 October 2021 (some purposes 5 July 2021) |
| Children as victims in their own right | s.3 | Fully from 31 January 2022 |
| Presumption of special measures in family proceedings | s.63 | 1 October 2021 |
| Ban on cross-examination in person in family proceedings | s.65 | 21 July 2022 |
| Coercive control offence covers ex-partners living apart | s.68 | 5 April 2023 |
| Non-fatal strangulation or suffocation offence | s.70 | 7 June 2022 |
| No consent defence to serious harm for sexual gratification | s.71 | 29 April 2021 |
| Automatic priority need for homeless victims (England) | s.78 | 5 July 2021 |
| Domestic abuse protection notices and orders | ss.22 to 53 | Pilot areas only, until 24 November 2026 |
We advised a mother whose ex-partner had never laid a hand on her. He kept her bank card, checked every receipt and moved out only after the separation, then went on demanding photos of her shopping before he would pay for the children’s clothes. Friends had told her it “wasn’t really abuse” because he was never violent and they lived apart. We explained how the statutory definition covers economic abuse and control after separation, and helped her set out a short, dated account with the bank statements and messages behind it. With that, she applied for a non-molestation order and raised the abuse properly in the child arrangements case, where the court considered the effect on the children. What happens in any case turns on its own facts.
Domestic Abuse Act 2021 finder: what the Act changes for you
Three questions show whether the statutory definition is likely to cover your situation, which part of the law speaks to it and where it usually goes next. Nothing you choose is sent or stored.
0 of 3 answered
Answer all three to see what the Act says
- Does the definition reach this?Whether the two of you are personally connected.
- The part of the law that speaks to itThe section or offence that matches what is happening.
- Where this usually goes nextThe route people in your position usually take.
What the Act cannot decide for you Which step to take first, and in which court.
Expert Tip
Write down what happened in the words of the definition, not in general terms. Instead of "he was controlling", note the date, what he did with the bank card or your phone, and what it stopped you doing. Keep the messages and statements that back it up, and do not delete anything, even the worst of it. If children were in the house, note what they saw or heard and how they were afterwards. A short, dated list like this is what a judge can act on.
Hannah Overton, Complex Children Specialist & Client Support
Domestic Abuse Act 2021: frequently asked questions
Is the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 fully in force?
Most of it is. The definition, children as victims, the family court protections, the new offences and the housing changes all apply. Domestic abuse protection notices and orders in Part 3 are still limited to pilot areas (s.27, commencement notes).
Does the Act cover abuse after we separated?
Yes. The definition covers former partners, whether or not you lived together (s.2). Since 5 April 2023, the coercive control offence also covers an ex who no longer lives with you (s.68).
Does controlling money count as domestic abuse?
Yes. Behaviour that has a substantial adverse effect on your ability to get, use or keep money or property, or to obtain goods or services, is economic abuse and counts as domestic abuse (s.1(4)).
Can my ex cross-examine me in the family court?
Often not. If they were convicted, cautioned or charged with an offence against you, an on-notice protective injunction is in force, or there is specified evidence of abuse, they cannot question you in person. The court then finds another way, which can mean appointing a lawyer to ask the questions (s.65).
Does the Act apply in Scotland or Northern Ireland?
Mostly no. Apart from a few listed provisions, the Act extends to England and Wales only (s.89(1)). The definition, the family court changes and the protection orders do not apply in Scotland or Northern Ireland, which have their own domestic abuse laws.
Not sure the Act covers what is happening to you? Get advice before you act
Two things often go wrong. Some people are told abuse without violence, or abuse after separation, does not count, so they wait while the control goes on. Others assume the new protection orders are available where they live and lose time, when a non-molestation order could be applied for straight away and the Act's protections raised in any case about the children.
A free initial consultation is a conversation with a specialist, who gives you initial advice tailored to your circumstances, including how the Act applies to you. It does not include drafting or reviewing documents. If you can, contact us from a phone or computer the other person cannot see.
Book a free initial consultation or call 0330 094 5880.
You can also read our guides to coercive control and Practice Direction 12J, or return to our guide to non-molestation orders.
General information about the law in England and Wales, not advice on your circumstances.
