Last week, the Information Commissioner fined the Chief Constable of Kent Police under s.55A of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998), after an investigation revealed that Kent Police were in contravention of the ‘seventh protection principle,’ disclosing sensitive and personal information from a victim’s mobile phone to the... Read More
A new domestic violence hotline in Saudi Arabia received 1,890 calls in its first three days, reports Abdullah Al-Muaiqil, the deputy minister for social affairs. Half of those domestic abuse allegations concerned new cases. Saudi Arabia only criminalized domestic abuse in 2013, after a “No More Abuse” campaign that featured a... Read More
A survey from the Office for National Statistics estimates that there were 1.9 million victims of domestic abuse last year in England and Wales, or 6.1 per cent of the population. For the purposes of the survey, forms of domestic abuse constitute emotional, financial or physical assault carried out by a partner, ex-partner or... Read More
Earlier this week, I wrote a piece on the impact of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) on victims of domestic violence. As set out in my previous blog, LASPO removed legal aid in practically all family law cases except for victims of domestic violence. On the surface, this looked like a sensible... Read More
After the gang rape and subsequent death of a 24-year-old student in India in December 2012, the unprecedented public outcry put pressure on the government to reform the laws concerned with sexual assault. 'Delhi was the epicentre for the movement, but it was happening everywhere,' Karuna Nundy, a prominent Supreme Court... Read More
Clare’s Law, officially entitled the Domestic Violence Disclosure scheme, comes into force from March 2014. This scheme is named after Clare Wood, who was murdered by her boyfriend in 2009. It is important to understand such a law, and to raise awareness about its effect. The law allows anyone who is worried about their partners’... Read More
British actor Sir Patrick Stewart has spoken passionately about domestic violence and claims that his support for women’s charity Refuge is one of his proudest achievements. Stewart was being interviewed at an event in Houston called Comicpalooza, designed for fans of science fiction and gaming when he made the comments. He was... Read More