Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to increase awareness of (a) coercive control. (b) financial abuse and (c) other forms of non physical domestic abuse.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 introduced a statutory definition of domestic abuse, encompassing not only physical violence but also emotional, coercive, and controlling behaviour, and economic abuse. The statutory guidance on controlling or coercive behaviour (CCB), issued to police forces and other statutory agencies, recognises economic abuse as a type of CCB.

We have taken strong action against those who commit CCB. Offenders sentenced to a minimum of 12 months for coercive behaviour are now managed under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA), ensuring coordinated information sharing among enforcement agencies to prevent reoffending.

This year, the Government has provided £200,000 of funding for Surviving Economic Abuse to develop resources and training for businesses and charities to identify and support victims of economic abuse.

These measures are part of our ambitious mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, details of which will be set out in the VAWG Strategy later this year.