Domestic Abuse Protection Orders – what they are, and where you can get one

If you’ve looked into Domestic Abuse Protection Orders recently, you may have come away confused. Some sources describe them as the new standard protection for victims of domestic abuse. Others suggest they have replaced older orders entirely. Search online and you may well end up reading about the position in Scotland, which is different again.

The reality in England and Wales is more nuanced. Domestic Abuse Protection Orders, usually shortened to DAPOs, are real, they are being used, and breaching one is a criminal offence. But they are not yet available across the whole of England and Wales, and the older orders they are eventually meant to replace are all still in place. This article explains what they do, who can apply, and what to do if you cannot use one where you live.

If you are in immediate danger, call 999. If you cannot speak, and you are calling from a mobile, press 55 to have your call transferred to the police. GOV.UK has published practical guidance on how to recognise domestic abuse and get help.

Where DAPOs come from

DAPOs were created by Part 3 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. The intention was to bring the strongest features of the existing patchwork of protective orders together into one flexible order that could be obtained through the criminal, civil or family courts, whichever route suited the situation best.

Part 3 has never been brought into force nationally. Instead, it was commenced on a pilot basis on 27 November 2024, in a small number of areas, and the pilot has since been extended twice. The pilot has been extended into November 2026. That is the single most important thing to understand about DAPOs: they are enacted law but only switched on in certain places.

The notice: immediate protection from the police

There are two linked measures. The first is a Domestic Abuse Protection Notice, or DAPN. This is a civil notice that the police can issue on the spot, without going to court, where an officer has reasonable grounds to believe someone has been abusive towards a person aged 16 or over. The person alleged to be responsible must be aged 18 or over, and the two people must be "personally connected", which covers spouses and civil partners, former partners, people in or previously in an intimate relationship, relatives, and people who have shared parental responsibility for the same child.

A DAPN takes effect immediately and can, for example, require the person to stay away from the victim's home. It is legally binding and failing to comply can lead to arrest. Where the police issue a DAPN, they must then apply to the magistrates' court for a DAPO and that application is usually heard within 48 hours.

The order: longer-term and considerably more flexible

A DAPO is made by a court. Its most striking feature is that it has no minimum or maximum duration. The court decides how long protection is needed and sets the length accordingly. This is a genuine change from the older Domestic Violence Protection Order, which is capped at 28 days.

A DAPO can contain a mixture of requirements:

• Prohibitions. Stopping contact or preventing the person from coming within a set distance of a home, a workplace, a school or any other specified place.
• Positive requirements. Requiring the person to do something constructive, most obviously attending a behaviour change programme.
• Notification requirements. These are mandatory in every DAPO. The person subject to the order must tell the police their name and address within three days and report any change within three days of it happening.
• Electronic monitoring. The court can order tagging to check compliance with conditions such as exclusion zones.

Breach of any requirement, without reasonable excuse, is a criminal offence carrying up to five years' imprisonment, a fine, or both. A breach can alternatively be dealt with as contempt of court.

Who can apply

This is the other significant departure from earlier orders. A DAPO does not depend on the victim taking action. It can be sought by the police, by the victim personally, or by a third party such as a relative, friend or social worker with the court's permission. A court can also make one of its own initiative during existing family, civil or criminal proceedings, including where the person has been acquitted of the offence that brought them there.

A victim applying to the family court uses form DA1. A third party needs form DA1 together with form DA2, which asks the court for permission to apply on someone else's behalf. If there are existing county court proceedings between the parties, the application goes to the county court instead. There are no court fees for a victim applying for a DAPO, and legal aid is available subject to the usual means and merits tests.

Where they are available

DAPNs and DAPOs can currently be used only where the person you need protection from lives in a pilot area. Where you live doesn’t matter. The current areas are:

• Greater Manchester, and the London boroughs of Croydon, Sutton and Bromley, since 27 November 2024. The British Transport Police can also apply.
• The districts of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees, since 5 March 2025.
• North Wales, covering the Isle of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham, since 28 April 2025.

If the person lives in one of those areas but you do not, you may need to travel for hearings, although you can ask the court to hold the hearing remotely. Judges consider those requests case by case.

If a DAPO is not available to you

Nothing has been taken away. Because the repeal provisions in the 2021 Act have deliberately not been brought into force, the existing protective framework remains available in England and Wales.

That includes non-molestation orders and occupation orders under the Family Law Act 1996, applied for using form FL401, restraining orders in the criminal courts and stalking protection orders. Domestic Violence Protection Notices and Orders also remain available in non-pilot areas while the DAPN/DAPO regime is being piloted. For most people, a non-molestation order remains the practical route, and it is well understood by the courts.

Free help with a DAPO application is available from FLOWS (Finding Legal Options for Women Survivors), whether or not you qualify for legal aid.

What happens next

The government's violence against women and girls strategy, published in December 2025, includes a commitment to roll DAPOs out to all police forces and courts across England and Wales, with the associated action plan covering the period from 2026 to 2029. In November 2025 the Home Office and Ministry of Justice reported that more than 1,000 orders had been made in the pilot areas during the first year.

On 28 August 2026 the government announced a further package of measures, including £13.3 million for up to ten police forces to set up specialist protection order teams, testing new ways of enforcing orders of this kind and managing the people subject to them. The deadline for every force to have a specialist rape and sexual offence team was brought forward from summer 2029 to December 2027.

That announcement did not change the legal position on DAPOs. For now, DAPOs remain available only in the pilot areas. The Government has committed to national rollout, but full national commencement has not yet taken place.

Until fresh regulations are made, DAPOs remain available only in the pilot areas and the existing orders continue to do the heavy lifting everywhere else. Anyone told that DAPOs have replaced non-molestation orders has been misinformed.

Getting advice

Choosing between the available orders is not always obvious, and the right answer depends on where the other person lives, whether there are existing proceedings, and what protection is actually needed. If you are worried about your safety, or the safety of someone close to you, contact your solicitor, who can talk you through the options open to you and act quickly where the situation calls for it.