Domestic Abuse

Domestic Abuse is a wide ranging term we commonly hear in the media. It can be a single incident, but more commonly, is a damaging pattern of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading or violent behaviour used by one person to maintain power and control over another within an intimate or family relationship. 

What Domestic Abuse can look like

Domestic Abuse takes many forms and frequently includes one or more of the following behaviours:

1) Coercive Control and Psychological Abuse

a) Isolation: Offenders can cut the victim off from friends, family, co-workers and other support networks.

b) Monitoring: Offenders can track the victims movements, check phone logs or messages to see who the victim has been speaking to, or demanding passwords to phones, emails, social media accounts etc. 

c) Gaslighting: Offenders can manipulate the victim into doubting their sanity, memory, or perception of reality. 

d) Threats and/or Intimidation: To maintain control, offenders can threaten to harm the victim, children, pets, or even themselves if the victim does not do as they demand or if the victim leaves. 

2) Economic and Financial Abuse

a) Controlling Income: Taking control of bank accounts, wages, benefits or taking sole control of all household finances. 

b) Exclusion: Preventing a victim from getting a job, attending job interviews, or engaging in education. 

c) Forced Debt: Taking out loans, credit cards, or contracts in the victim's name without their consent or through coercion. 

3) Physical Abuse

a) Direct Violence: Violence against the victim including pushing, slapping, hitting, kicking, choking. 

b) Denying Essentials: Withholding essential needs such as food, sleep or medication. 

c) Imprisonment: Locking a victim in a room or preventing the victim from leaving the house. 

4) Sexual Abuse and Exploitation

a) Non-Consensual Acts: Forcing or pressuring a partner into sexual acts against their will. 

b) Degradation: Using sexual behaviour to demean, humiliate, or control a victim. 

5) Digital and Online Abuse

a) Tracking: Using tracking application or spyware to monitor a victims location or activities. 

b) Communications: Sending relentless or harassing messages or making constant calls to verify where the victim is. 

c) Revenge Pornography / Internet Based Abuse: Sharing or threatening to share private, intimate images and videos without the victims consent. 

What can we do for you?

As a small company, we do not have a contract for Legal Aid. You may qualify for legal aid and there are many firms who can offer the same or similar services to ourselves under Legal Aid. If you are unable to pay for representation privately, you can search for a firm of solicitors who do have a legal aid contract by searching through the Law Society.

We provide all services offered by legal aid including; 

1) Non-Molestation Orders: This prohibits an abuser from threatening, harassing, harming, or contacting the victim (and their children). Breach of a Non-Molestation Order is a criminal offence and an offender can be immediately arrested and face up to five years in prison. 

2) Occupation Order: This dictates who can live in the family home and frequently is used to remove the abuser from the property. Occupation Orders can include a power of arrest if specific conditions of the order are breached.

3) Injunctions: Injunctions through the County Court can be used in any case, but tend to be used when a Non-Molestation Order cannot be obtained. 

We also provide additional services which is not traditionally covered by Legal Aid: 

1) Claims for Damages: Victims of Domestic Abuse can bring a claim against the perpetrator for financial damages. We can also submit claims through the CICA (Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority) in cases where the victim has been physically injured. We can also bring claims for financial damages or injunctions following from intimate content being posted online, or has threatened to share intimate content. 

2) Advice and Representation with the Police: Unfortunately, sometimes a victim needs legal assistance in liaising with the police and CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) to ensure criminal action is taken against the perpetrator.  

Who we work with

We also work with Family Law Specialists who can assist with; 

1) Child Safeguarding - ensuring that children are kept safe including applying for Child Arrangements Orders and Prohibited Steps Orders. 

2) Divorce - if you are married and need assistance in getting a divorce, we are linked in with specialists who will be happy to assist you in getting the best possible outcome. 

Exclusions

Due to existing professional obligations, we unable to accept instructions for cases involving the Family Courts or Criminal Courts in the Lancashire area. If you require similar services within our area, please search for a solicitor through the Law Society.