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Legislation
The key pieces of domestic English and Welsh legislation addressing this topic are the Family Law Act 1996 the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, and the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 although there are also other relevant criminal law statutes. As with all legislation, we recommend that you avoid legislation.gov.uk, and instead refer to a subscription database such a Lexis or Westlaw. This will ensure that you are working with an up-to-date version.
Television and radio documentaries
You may have access to a resource called Box of Broadcasts via your college or university. This is provided by the British Universities and Colleges Film and Video Council and gives on demand access to many television and radio programmes going back years, for educational purposes. Some programmes also include transcripts. There are many documentaries available. These include:
Panorama: Domestic Abuse: Caught on Camera (BBC1 London, 2014) (note: includes some visceral aftermath of incidents)
Love You to Death: A Year of Domestic Violence (BBC2, 2015)
Alesha Dixon: Don’t Hit My Mum (BBC1 London 2010)
Panorama: The Golden Hour (BBC1, 2003)
Beaten by My Boyfriend (BBC3, 2015)
BBC Wales Live (story on domestic abuse and the family courts) (BBC1 Wales, 2018)
Tonight: Behind Closed Doors: Fear and Control (ITV London, 2016)
Government domestic violence page
Webpage containing lots of links to policies and legal steps that can be taken. Includes the government definition of domestic violence and abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour, as well as various government evaluations and reviews. Up to date.
This Convention requires state parties to take certain steps to address violence against women and girls. The UK is a signatory to the Convention but has yet to ratify it.
A report bringing together statistics to enable more thorough analysis of how domestic abuse is dealt with at the local level within England and Wales.
Byron James, ‘Drafting Non-Molestation Orders; Going beyond the Blanket Ban’, Family Law Week (2009)
Short article criticising the courts’ approach to non-molestation orders.
The link is to the project page, where the consultation documents and the final report can both be found. This report led to the Family Law Act 1996.
This policy page from the organisation Rights of Women contains links to a number of their publications on domestic violence and the family courts.
This policy page from Women’s Aid contains links to a number of their publications on domestic abuse, femicide, and child contact.
Government Factsheet on the Domestic Abuse Act 2021
This blog describes he anticipated impact of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, the range of responses developed by the Act, and the new definition of domestic abuse.
This is the website of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, a post introduced by the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 to challenge domestic abuse across society.