{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/domestic-abuse-act-2021/section-3",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/domestic-abuse-act-2021/section-3.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/2021/17",
  "legislation_title": "Domestic Abuse Act 2021",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/domestic-abuse-act-2021",
  "path": "section/3",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "3",
  "heading": "Children as victims of domestic abuse",
  "text": "(1) This section applies where behaviour of a person (“A”) towards another person (“B”) is domestic abuse.\n(2) Any reference in this Act to a victim of domestic abuse includes a reference to a child who—\n(a) sees or hears, or experiences the effects of, the abuse, and\n(b) is related to A or B.\n(3) A child is related to a person for the purposes of subsection (2) if—\n(a) the person is a parent of, or has parental responsibility for, the child, or\n(b) the child and the person are relatives.\n(4) In this section—\n“child” means a person under the age of 18 years;\n“parental responsibility” has the same meaning as in the Children Act 1989 (see section 3 of that Act);\n“relative” has the meaning given by section 63(1) of the Family Law Act 1996.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I1",
      "text": "S. 3 in force at 1.10.2021 for specified purposes by S.I. 2021/1038, reg. 2(c)"
    },
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I2",
      "text": "S. 3 in force at 1.11.2021 for specified purposes by S.I. 2021/1038, reg. 3(a)"
    },
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I3",
      "text": "S. 3 in force at 31.1.2022 in so far as not already in force by S.I. 2022/73, reg. 2"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2021/17/section/3",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T08:58:49.211647+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}