Radio 4’s The Archers hit headlines for a controversial plot around domestic violence – avoiding the standard depiction of abuse as physical violence, instead centring on ‘impossible to see’ and ‘behind closed doors’ forms of emotional abuse. In the criminal law, domestic violence now covers ‘controlling and coercive behaviour’ giving police unprecedented licence to intervene in family life. Is this change a long overdue awakening to the problem of domestic violence, or should we be worried by this level of state intrusion?
