Why the domestic abuse bill needs to go further to protect women against ‘rough sex’ defence

The Domestic Abuse Bill has been hailed as a once in a generation chance to tackle the scourge of domestic violence but questions have been raised about whether the legislation goes far enough as it returns to parliament for a second reading on Tuesday.

Campaigners have called for the government to include the new offence of “non-fatal strangulation” in the legislation to tackle the rising number of killers claiming women died during “rough sex” after the Home Office recently pledged to look at how it could curb the use of the defence in courts.

Increasing numbers of women are being seriously injured and killed in so-called “sex games gone wrong”. In 1996, two women per year were killed or injured during what the defendants referred to as “consensual rough sex” but this figure had soared to 20 women by 2016.

In 45 per cent of cases where a man kills a woman during sex and alleges she gave her consent, the rough sex defence succeeds, which leads to the killing being prosecuted under manslaughter or not even regarded as a crime.

The Centre for Women’s Justice, a legal charity which tackles violence against women, along with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, the Victim’s Commissioner, and Labour MPs such as Harriet Harman and Jess Phillips, are putting forward an amendment to the forthcoming bill to include the new offence of “non-fatal strangulation”.

Ms Harman, the MP for Camberwell and Peckham, told The Independent: ”The law needs to be there to protect women from being coerced into accepting strangulation that takes them to the brink of death. This is a ’50 shades of grey’ defence. An insidious modern twist on the age-old crime of male sexual violence against women.”

Grace Millane, a British backpacker who was murdered by a man in New Zealand a day before her 22nd birthday in December 2018, is one case which has triggered calls for the law to be changed.

Fiona Mackenzie, founder of We Can’t Consent to This, a campaign group which has done extensive research into the “rough sex” defence, said they fully supported proposals to make “non-fatal strangulation” a serious offence.

She said: “It is incredibly important that we see law change on this, as the current outcomes for women are horrific. Too many women have been killed or injured by men who claim they asked for the violence, and what’s worse is that these men are too often believed.

“We know that the effect on families of women killed is utterly devastating – to have that woman’s intimate life pored over in court as justification for the fatal violence done to them. And in every case we’ve found of a woman who has to go to court to face the man who injured her, she says she didn’t consent, and he says she did.

“Strangulation is such a serious assault, and so many women contact us to say they’ve been strangled by male partners.”

Frontline service providers warn strangulation is the second most common method by which women are killed by men but it is often charged as “common assault”.

Nogah Ofer, solicitor at the Centre for Women’s Justice, said: “Non-fatal strangulation is a gendered crime. It is a well-known risk factor for serious domestic violence and homicide. It is also frequently used as a tool to exert power and control, and to instil fear. It sends the message that ‘if you do not comply, this is how easily I can kill you’.”

Harriet Wistrich, director of the Centre for Women’s Justice, added: “Offenders are getting away with little or no punishment for this terrifying and dangerous offence. Police and prosecutors are not taking this offending sufficiently seriously. A simple amendment to the domestic abuse bill, making non-fatal strangulation a specific serious offence could provide a remedy and help reduce femicide.”

Labour has suggested legislation to provide a dedicated fast-tracked fund for services hit by the Covid-19 emergency which are helping domestic abuse victims and survivors.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, shadow home secretary, has outlined plans to introduce amendments to the Domestic Abuse Bill to ensure 10 per cent of the chancellor’s recent £750m pledge in emergency funding for charities across the UK is ring-fenced for domestic abuse charities.

Writing in The Independent, Ms Phillips, shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding and Mr Thomas-Symonds, said: “Figures recently released by the Met showed domestic abuse calls have risen by around a third in the last six weeks, while at the same time the National Domestic Abuse helpline has seen a 25 per cent increase.

“These are shuddering figures that should make the whole country sit up and act. Some of the most at-risk people in our society are being placed in a potentially deadly situation and we must do more to support them and offer alternative safe accommodation.”