ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explains about domestic violence. Domestic violence is a problem within society as a whole. The adequacy of both the civil and criminal law to deal with the perpetrators of this crime. It concentrates on the responses to domestic violence in the narrow sense defined above by both the civil and the criminal justice system. The term domestic' refers only to couples in intimate heterosexual relationships, as, until the coming into force of the Family Law Act 1996, couples in lesbian or homosexual relationships have limited protection. Violence' is taken to mean emotional and psychological abuse, threats of violence, harassment, sexual violence, and physical violence against the person or property. The problems of under-reporting of incidents has been-noted above, but even on published figures, women form the majority of victims of violent crime committed by intimates.
