On Tuesday, the Council of Ministers adopted the draft act amending the Act on Counteracting Domestic Violence and certain other acts submitted by the Minister of Family and Social Policy. – The first Act on Counteracting Domestic Violence entered into force in 2005. In 2020, we introduced provisions that make it possible to immediately isolate perpetrators of violence from people who experience it – points out Anna Schmidt, Deputy Minister of Family and Social Policy and Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment.
As she emphasises, there is still a need to adapt the applicable regulations to the changing conditions and to introduce comprehensive solutions into the legal order to increase the effectiveness of counteracting domestic violence and to reduce the scale of this phenomenon.

Enhanced protection of families against violence

The draft adopted by the Council of Ministers provides, above all, for extending the definition of domestic violence to include economic violence. As for new types of violence, this will also be the description of behaviours that may evoke a sense of threat, humiliation or torment, and are displayed online – says Deputy Minister Anna Schmidt.

What else will change?

• The draft act extends the group of persons covered by protection to include ex-partners who do not live together and children who are witnesses of domestic violence.
• The standard of basic services provided by specialist support centres for people experiencing domestic violence will be determined.
• The provisions concerning the qualifications of persons managing specialist support centres for people experiencing domestic violence will be clarified.
• Changes regarding the work of interdisciplinary teams and existing working groups operating locally will be introduced.

The new solutions are to enter into force 3 months after their promulgation in the Journal of Laws.