'Controlling' behavior to be illegal in England, Wales

How to prove verbal violence if no witness is present?

controlling their social media access

So if a parent refuses to let their child have a facebook account it's five years in the slammer?

I don't believe that would apply here since the child is a minor (and thus doesn't have the rights of an adult) and the parent is the legal guardian (and thus responsible for the child).

"coercive or controlling behavior can be seen as domestic abuse and... prosecuted as a crime"

One use of the new law is to prosecute MOTHERS who deny their child's right to see the FATHER.

Welcome to England where we have LAWS to PROTECT people!! :-)

Britain has been a police state for over twenty years it's why I left.

This law is to appease the police who have had funding cuts. It will probably facilitate false claims but domestic violence is on the up.

The new legislation was created after a majority of people CONSULTED BY THE GOVERNMENT said that existing laws on abuse did not offer sufficient protection.

"We can't limit grandma's access?"

No. That's down to the bank if she is misusing her plastic.

"Or her driving, since she can't see?"

No. That's down to police and the DVLA if her driving is a danger to herself or others.

In summary, she may be your grandma but what she does is none of your business. If you think that it is, and that "coercive or controlling behavior" is ok, then you're going to jail... :-)

I can't believe some of the ridiculous interpretations of this law going on!

Come on, be serious people! It's pretty obvious where and why this law is being brought in.

Too late for my old school friend, whose husbands rabidly catholic family forced him to marry her after he knocked her up. He refused to let her work. He verbally beat her down over many years. She was not allowed to contact us because we were all free and single and he thought we would be a bad influence on her. So she lost her support network. He threatened to take their son away if she ever left. He was rude and abusive to her family and eventually they stopped visiting. They called the police but they said no crime was being committed. They visited her to ask if she wanted to file a complaint. Of course, she said no. She was scared. When their son turned 20 and she was just 38 herself, she finally did escape. With a huge handful of pills.

And he is still scot free to walk around because after all, "no crime has been committed".

...so this will include incessant nagging from her right?

@Farmboy

So grandma has lost her mind and is buying 20 truckloads of horse poop at a time

I've read the law has provision for this kind of thing. This was from a BBC article, but I can see it must be open to all kinds of interpretations:

A defence is also included to provide a further safeguard against inappropriate use of the new offence. It will apply where the defendant can show that they believed they were acting in the victim's best interests and that their behaviour was objectively reasonable. An example might be someone caring for a mentally ill spouse, who has to keep them in the home and make them take medication for their own protection or in their own best interests.

NathalieB's friend is clearly the kind of person the law is intended to help. It remains to be seen how it will work out.

— Physical violence will no longer be needed to prosecute someone for abusing their partners or family members in England and Wales.

how civilized . . . !

Britain has been a police state for over twenty years it's why I left.

Hyperbole much?

I don't know how they are going to be able to prove this but without reading the law it's tough to understand.

"only in cases where the offending behavior is REPEATED or CHRONIC"

It's very easy to prove guilt if the person keeps doing the crime and won't stop...