Domestic abuse should be made 'criminal offence'

"Domestic abuse is characterised by a catalogue of incidents, a pattern of behaviour which can include coercive control and emotional blackmail as well as physical violence. It was positive that the Association of Chief Police Officers last year amended their definition of domestic abuse to have regard of this fact. But it is high time that the criminal law was also amended so that domestic abuse was made a criminal offence in its own right."