Plans for a new law on domestic violence - a vacuous effort?

Theresa May announced a few days ago that she would be ‘personally overseeing’ the creation of a new law on domestic abuse. This would be the Domestic Violence and Abuse Act, which would consolidate existing legislation, address inconsistencies in the support provided to victims, increase convictions, address the lack of clarity in the current provision and raise public awareness of the problems associated with domestic violence. The initiative was welcomed by a number of statutory and voluntary organisations, who see it as an opportunity to take stock and make improvements to the way in which victims are supported by the system.