The plan to stop men from using provocation as a defence after they have killed a partner represents a long overdue reform to the law, according to Sheffield's largest independent legal firm.
The head of the family team at Wake Smith & Tofields, Paul Thorn, says that the government's planned change will make it easier to secure justice in cases of domestic homicide. He points out that the issue highlights a serious, but often hidden problem:
"Domestic abuse is too frequently kept quiet, yet it affects all types of people, men and women, rich and poor. Sheffield Domestic Abuse Forum estimates that there are at least 20,000 Sheffield women living in an environment of domestic abuse at any one time*. On average two women a week are killed by their partner or former partner, which accounts for about one third of all female homicides in this country. **
In 2006-7, 650 Sheffield women suffering from domestic abuse applied for refuge and of those, 173 secured places. Another 1,204 women in Sheffield received telephone support from domestic abuse help-lines that year.+
Thorn points out that the reform will also offer better recognition for women who have killed their partners after years of domestic violence:
"The government is paving the way for women to be able to claim, as a defence to a charge of murder, that they could not help killing their partner because of years of domestic abuse. Although not exclusively available to women, it is much more likely that it will be a woman who seeks to raise this even though it will only be available in rare cases.
"This is because women are almost twice as likely to suffer domestic abuse as men and this is not a rare problem. Nearly 50% of women claim that they have experienced some form of domestic abuse from a partner or other family member. Men are much more likely to initiate the violence and women put up with violence for longer. Almost all reports of abuse over more than four occasions come from women.
"The police are now much better equipped to deal with violent partners but it is the effect of the violence on the family that can also be traumatic. Abuse often leads to separation as the only effective way of achieving protection. Family, friends or a refuge might be used in the short term but there are the longer term problems of housing, money and the care of any children that have to resolved, and all arising out of domestic abuse.
"Anyone suffering from these kind of problems should contact a solicitor to discuss the options and find a way forward."
* Home Office statistics report that one in ten women is living in a domestic abuse environment at any one time. Adult female population in Sheffield is 209,000, meaning an estimated 20,000 are potentially living with domestic abuse. (Sheffield Domestic Abuse Forum).
**Home Office
+Sheffield Domestic Abuse Forum
For more information on divorce and family matters please contact Lindsey Canning on 0114 266 6660 or email [email protected].
