Domestic Abuse, Victims and the Law

The gap between what the law and legal processes deliver for victims of domestic abuse and what they actually need has, in some instances, arguably widened. This book provides the reader with a thorough understanding of the remedies available to victims in the civil, family and criminal law. It contends that expectations of the legal remedies have increased as the number and scope of remedies has proliferated. It further examines how legal responses to domestic abuse have evolved over the past decade and explores how the victim’s rights narrative and associated litigation, which has become prevalent in legal discourse and criminal justice reforms, has shifted expectations and impacted domestic abuse policy and law. The book presents a valuable addition to the literature in drawing on a discourse familiar to those with an interest in human rights, demonstrating its impact on a substantive area of law of great significance to both family and criminal lawyers and anyone with an interest in domestic abuse and legal responses.

Mandy Burton is Professor of Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Leicester, UK. She has published extensively on domestic abuse and the law, including articles, books and reports commissioned by UK government departments and public bodies with the aim of informing policy and improving practice in cases involving vulnerable victims.