A charity has listed its concerns about a proposed bill on domestic abuse and is urging victims to make their voices heard.

Safe, Strong, Secure (3S) is asking for wide participation in a public consultation about the proposed Diversion of Offenders and Domestic Abuse Bill 2018.

The charity previously attracted 2,500 signatures in its petition to introduce tougher sentencing for domestic violence cases.

It is now encouraging people to raise points that they feel have not been covered by the Bill.

The charity said: ’Domestic violence is long-lasting and cumulative.

’Victims consistently say they are living with the effects for a lifetime.

’This issue affects one in three women and one in six men in this island. It hurts children and destroys families.

’It is domestic terrorism - sentencing needs to reflect this damage.’

3S told the Manx Independent that the drafted bill should be a ’unique’ law in the island rather than a ’copied’ version of the English law.

It said: ’We campaigned for tougher sentences in domestic abuse cases and a greater understanding of the effect of abuse on victims.

’This draft Bill is modelled on English law which has a maximum five-year sentence.

’We would rather it was closer to the 12 years which is the maximum sentence under Scottish law.’

Further points made by the charity include the name of the Bill, which it believes makes it ’sound like domestic abuse is not considered important and is tacked on at the end of something else’.

3S say that both domestic violence and coercive control need to be treated as separate laws rather than one ’muddled’ law, as they are ’entirely different’ issues.

The phrasing used in the Bill is said to be ’confusing and fairly meaningless’, including the wording ’Diversion of Offenders’.

3S explained: ’What it means is a proposal to divert offenders away from jail and instead use more fines and cautions.

’This is surely the opposite of what we want to achieve for domestic abuse and coercive control.’

The problem of post-separation violence and threats were also brought up by the charity which says the Bill needs to include this as well.

’Leaving does not end abuse and is the most dangerous time for a victim,’ it added.

The group warns that although the volume of the consultation documentation looks heavy, not all of the questions need to be answered and can be saved for a later date.

The public consultation can be found by searching consult.gov.im/home-affairs/criminal-justice-2018/