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Domestic Abuse Act 2021

Consolidated Text As Enacted Cited authorities 167 Cited in Amendments 35 Related
JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citation2021 c. 17
Year2021

This section defines “domestic abuse” for the purposes of this Act.

A and B are each aged 16 or over and are personally connected to each other, and

the behaviour is abusive.

physical or sexual abuse;

violent or threatening behaviour;

controlling or coercive behaviour;

economic abuse (see subsection (4));

psychological, emotional or other abuse;

acquire, use or maintain money or other property, or

obtain goods or services.

For the purposes of this Act A's behaviour may be behaviour “towards” B despite the fact that it consists of conduct directed at another person (for example, B's child).

References in this Act to being abusive towards another person are to be read in accordance with this section.

For the meaning of “personally connected”, see section 2.

they are, or have been, married to each other;

they are, or have been, civil partners of each other;

they have agreed to marry one another (whether or not the agreement has been terminated);

they have entered into a civil partnership agreement (whether or not the agreement has been terminated);

they are, or have been, in an intimate personal relationship with each other;

they each have, or there has been a time when they each have had, a parental relationship in relation to the same child (see subsection (2));

they are relatives.

the person is a parent of the child, or

the person has parental responsibility for the child.

In this section—

  • “child” means a person under the age of 18 years;

  • “civil partnership agreement” has the meaning given by section 73 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004;

  • “parental responsibility” has the same meaning as in the Children Act 1989 (see section 3 of that Act);

  • “relative” has the meaning given by section 63(1) of the Family Law Act 1996.

This section applies where behaviour of a person (“A”) towards another person (“B”) is domestic abuse.

sees or hears, or experiences the effects of, the abuse, and

is related to A or B.

the person is a parent of, or has parental responsibility for, the child, or

the child and the person are relatives.

In this section—

  • “child” means a person...

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