Closed petition Change the law to recognise Domestic Abuse as a crime in its own right

Closed on 19 October 2018

Currently if a victim goes to the police to report Domestic Abuse it will often be classed as Common Assualt which has to be reported within 6 months or action cannot be taken. Many victims do not have the confidence or courage to come forward within the timescale required by law.

The laws relating to domestic abuse are outdated. Many victims do not have the confidence to talk about their abuse for many years and when they find the courage to speak out and report the crime they find that the law only allows them 6 months to report it. Quite often the abuser will go on to assualt another victim. It is time that domestic abuse was recognised as a crime in its own right and the timescale changed to help the frightened and sometimes terrified victims.