Legislation – Domestic Abuse Act 2021
Which version?
Latest available (Revised)
Original (As enacted)
Changes to legislation:
There are currently no known outstanding effects for the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, Section 1.
Changes to Legislation
Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. At the current time any known changes or effects made by subsequent legislation have been applied to the text of the legislation you are viewing by the editorial team. Please see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ for details regarding the timescales for which new effects are identified and recorded on this site.
PART 1Definition of “domestic abuse”
I2I11Definition of “domestic abuse”
1
This section defines “domestic abuse” for the purposes of this Act.
2
Behaviour of a person (“A”) towards another person (“B”) is “domestic abuse” if—
a
A and B are each aged 16 or over and are personally connected to each other, and
b
the behaviour is abusive.
3
Behaviour is “abusive” if it consists of any of the following—
a
physical or sexual abuse;
b
violent or threatening behaviour;
c
controlling or coercive behaviour;
d
economic abuse (see subsection (4));
e
psychological, emotional or other abuse;
and it does not matter whether the behaviour consists of a single incident or a course of conduct.
4
“Economic abuse” means any behaviour that has a substantial adverse effect on B’s ability to—
a
acquire, use or maintain money or other property, or
b
obtain goods or services.
5
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).
6
References in this Act to being abusive towards another person are to be read in accordance with this section.
7
For the meaning of “personally connected”, see section 2.