The legislation was voted through the Sejm, Poland’s lower house, with 442 MPs in favour, 11 against, and no abstentions, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The bill now heads to the Senate, the upper house, for further consideration.
'Domestic violence' instead of 'family violence'
Under the proposal, the term “family violence” would be replaced by “domestic violence” to avoid stigmatising the family and reflect the fact that violence may also occur between ex-spouses and in informal relationships, officials said.
Moreover, the bill includes provisions against economic violence and cyber violence.
Economic violence
The definition of domestic violence has been expanded to include “one-off or repeated, deliberate acts or failures to act, violating the rights of the person experiencing domestic violence, and designed to gain control in terms of acquisition and use of economic resources owned by that person,” the PAP news agency reported.
Cyber violence
Meanwhile, cyber violence has been defined as “behaviours that may instil, in the person experiencing violence, a feeling of being threatened, humiliated, or in distress, especially behaviours performed by means of remote electronic communication devices.”
Wider protection
Under the bill, protection against domestic violence would be extended to ex-partners not living together as well as to children who witness domestic violence, officials said.
The proposal also foresees "new forms of intervention" targeted at perpetrators of domestic violence, such as therapy and psychological support, according to officials.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, gazetaprawna.pl, gov.pl