Today the Domestic Abuse Bill was reintroduced to the House of Commons as MPs considered the amendments that had been made to the Bill by the House of Lords.

Speaking in the Chamber today, Maria Miller celebrated the cross-party work of the Bill, which makes provisions for an independent Domestic Abuse Commissioner, creates a statutory definition of domestic abuse, gives new protections to victims in court, and brings children who witness domestic abuse into the scope of the Bill.

Maria Miller welcomed the important amendments made in the House of Lords which were accepted by Government, including amendments outlawing the threat to share intimate images without consent and outlawing non-fatal strangulation, but highlighted the need for ‘consistency’ across all elements of Government policy to root out violence against women and girls. Maria called for more effective laws protecting people against intimate image-based abuse, as well as the need to tackle violence against women that takes place online in the forthcoming Online Safety Bill.

Maria chaired the cross-party Joint Committee which scrutinised the Draft Domestic Abuse Bill in 2019. The Joint Committee made important recommendations to the Government, several of which have now been adopted by the Government in the current Domestic Abuse Bill.

Watch Maria’s full contribution in the Chamber: https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/d068cda1-70f8-42c2-9aca-2ce1ed142610?in=14:47:24&out=14:59:52