Domestic Abuse

What is domestic abuse?

The legal definition of domestic abuse is any incident of controlling, coercive or threatening behavior, violence, or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of their gender or sexuality.

This can include but isn’t limited to the following types of abuse:

physical
emotional
psychological
sexual
financial

Domestic abuse also includes honour-based abuse and forced marriage.

The Crown Prosecution Service website has a breakdown of the types of domestic abuse.

Just one incident counts as abuse.

Domestic abuse can affect anyone regardless of ethnicity, age, gender, sexuality, or social background.

If you are suffering from physical, sexual, psychological, or financial abuse, or are being threatened, intimidated, or stalked by a current or previous partner or close family member, it’s likely you’re a victim of domestic abuse.

You’re not to blame for what’s happening. You’re not alone.

or, if you’re not ready to speak to the police, you can contact support organisations who will help you.

We have a list of national and local support organisations who can help.

How to report domestic abuse

The first priority is the police to protect you and any children you have. If the situation is an emergency an officer will attend and, if proportionate, necessary, and lawful to do so, arrest the perpetrator, and take action to protect you from further harm – giving you time to think.

If you’re a victim of domestic abuse, or know someone who is, and there’s an emergency that’s ongoing or life is in danger, call 999 Nëse keni një dëmtim të dëgjimit ose të folurit, përdorni shërbimin e tyre të telefonit me tekst 18000 ose na shkruani në numrin 999 nëse jeni regjistruar paraprakisht në SMS emergencySMS service.

Other ways to report:

online
by calling 101 (If you have a hearing or speech impairment, use our textphone service on 18001 101)
in the safety of your local police station (if you require a translator, we can provide someone initially by phone and later in-person)

How they can help straight away

The police officers will make sure that you’ve dealt with respectfully and spoken to away from the person responsible for the abuse. If you’ve been physically injured, it’s important that your injuries are examined by a doctor. We’ll arrange medical care, if necessary.

Staying in touch

The police team will stay in contact with you and see you through the whole investigation. Their aim is to contact you within 24 hours of you reporting the offence to let you know what’s happening.

they’ll also give you a dedicated phone number, so you can call us directly to find out how your case is going or talk about anything that might be worrying you.

In many cases, victims of domestic abuse require temporary or longer-term housing alternatives. It may be that you need an injunction to prevent the perpetrator approaching you, or perhaps need counselling or support.

The police work alongside highly trained non-police advisers who can assist with aftercare for you and your family.

If you need to attend court for any reason there are also support services available so that you don’t feel overwhelmed or alienated by the legal process.

How to hide this visit from your web history

If you’re worried about someone knowing that you’ve visited our website, find out below how you can remove traces of your visit, these are called cache files. This includes files, scripts, images, and other multimedia stored on your device after opening an app or visiting a website.

You can clear your browser history (an application used to access and view websites, for example, Google Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer) by following the steps below. We’ve also included advice on what to do if you’re receiving threatening or abusive emails.

Please note

The information below may not completely hide your tracks. The safest way to completely hide your online activity from someone who has access to your devices would be to search and visit sites on someone else’s devices, eg at a library, at work, or using a friend or relatives.

Clear your browser history

It’s possible for someone to see the websites you’ve visited by looking through your web browser’s history on a computer or mobile device. Clearing the history, and emptying the cache file of saved information can be done in a few steps.

Google Chrome:

Android mobile - follow the steps below to clear your history:

open the Chrome app
at the top right, tap ‘…’
click ‘History’
tap ‘Clear browsing data…’
next to ‘Time range’ select how much history you want to delete
check ‘Browsing ’ Check any other data you want to delete
tap ‘Clear data’

IOS mobile – follow the steps below to clear your history:

open the Chrome app
click ‘…’
select ‘History’
click ‘Clear browsing data’
next to ‘Time range’ select how much
history you want to delete
click ‘Clear browsing data’

Windows computer – follow the steps below to clear your history:

open Chrome
click ‘…’ top right of browser
select ‘More tools’
‘More Settings’
Click ‘Clear browsing data’
choose a time range, such as last 24 hours or last 7 days
select the types of information you want to remove
click ‘Clear data’

Mac - follow the steps below to clear your history:

Open Chrome
Click ‘…’ top right
Select ‘ History’
Click ‘Clear browsing data’
choose a time range, such as last 24 hours or last 7 days
select the types of information you want to remove
click ‘Clear data’

Incognito browsing

In Incognito, none of your browsing history, cookies and site data, or information entered in forms are saved on your device. This means your activity doesn’t show up in your Chrome browser history, so people who also use your device won’t see your activity.

To use incognito browsing:

Open Chrome
click ‘…’
select ‘New incognito window/tab’

Safari:

Mac – follow the steps below to clear your history:

open Safari
Click on ‘History’ in the toolbar
select ‘Clear History…’
choose a time range, such as the last hour, today, or all history
Click ‘Clear History’

IOS – follow the steps below to clear your history:

open Safari
select book icon from bottom menu
press ‘clear’

Internet Explorer

If you’re using Internet Explorer on a computer, follow the steps below to clear your history:

Click on the Tools menu (in the row at the top of the browser)
select Internet Options from the drop-down menu; you should now be on a tab that says ‘General’ – if not, select ‘General’; under the title, ‘Temporary Internet Files
Click on ‘Delete Files’. You can also check the box that says ‘delete all offline content
then, under ‘History’ click on ‘Clear History’ then click OK, at the bottom

Firefox

If you’re using Firefox on a computer, follow the steps below to clear your history:

click the menu button, choose ‘History’, and then ‘Clear Recent History’
select how much history you want to clear: click the drop-down menu next to ‘Time Range’ to choose how much of your history Firefox will clear
finally, click ‘Clear Now’

Email abuse

If you are using a shared computer, or if someone has access to your computer, they may be able to read your incoming and outgoing mail. To ensure your account is secure, always log out after use and choose a password that others won’t be able to guess. On your mobile, use facial recognition, which is a hard-to-break layer of security, along with a secure pin code. You may wish to use the internet to access your emails, instead of downloading an email app, just remember to log out after every use.

If someone sends you threatening or harassing email messages, this can be reported as domestic abuse or a hate crime. Please print and save the emails as evidence and get in touch in one of these ways:

for an immediate response call 999. If you have a hearing or speech impairment, use our textphone service 18000 or text us on 999 if you’ve pre-registered with the emergencySMS service.
police non-emergency number 101
visit your local police station (search below to find a station)
if you have a hearing or speech impairment you can use a text phone to call us. Dial 18000 in an emergency, or 18001 101 if your call is not an emergency

Request information under Clare's Law: Make a Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS) application

If someone is in danger or at risk

If you or someone you know is being abused you can tell us about this, either by calling 101 or online. If you have a hearing or speech impairment, use our textphone service on 18001 101.

If there’s an immediate risk to someone’s safety, please call 999. If you have a hearing or speech impairment, use our textphone service 18000 or text us on 999 if you’ve pre-registered with the emergencySMS service.

This form isn’t for reporting domestic abuse. If you need to do that, please report domestic abuse using our online service.

This scheme gives any member of the public the right to ask the police if their partner may pose a risk to them. It is often called ‘Clare’s Law’ after the landmark case that led to it.

This scheme also allows a member of the public to make an enquiry into the partner of a close friend or family member.

Please note: The Clare’s Law (DVDS) scheme does not replace: CRB (Criminal Record Bureau) Checks, DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks, subject access requests or FOI requests.