The Act Persons to whom, and behaviour to which, notices and orders may relate Section 2 – Meaning of abusive behaviour
12.Section 2 provides the meaning of abusive behaviour by person A towards person B.
13.Section 2(2) provides that behaviour by person A is abusive of person B if a reasonable person would consider the behaviour is likely to cause person B to suffer physical or psychological harm. References to psychological harm include fear, alarm or distress by virtue of section 2(5).
14.Under section 2(2), there is no requirement for person B to actually suffer physical or psychological harm.
15.Section 2(3) provides that “behaviour” includes things said or otherwise communicated as well as things done. It also encompasses an intentional failure to do, say or otherwise communicate something (e.g. a failure to pass on times and dates of appointments or social occasions, or a failure to feed a family pet).
16.Section 2(4)(a) provides that behaviour directed at a person includes behaviour directed towards property. It is not a requirement that the property must belong to person B. It could, for instance, be shared property or property belonging to a third party, such as person B’s parents. Property includes pets or other animals (for example agricultural livestock) whether belonging to person B or others.
17.Section 2(4)(b) provides that behaviour directed at person B includes behaviour carried out with or through a third party. This might include, for example, getting another person to spy on or report on the activities of person B. The third party’s involvement could possibly be unwitting or unwilling, as they may be entirely unaware that their behaviour was helping person A to abuse person B or may have been coerced into participating in the abuse of person B.
18.Section 2(6) provides that for the purpose of Part 1, “behaviour” may consist of a single incident or a course of conduct, and so in determining whether behaviour is abusive, where behaviour consists of a course of conduct, regard is to be had, not only to whether individual incidents of behaviour are likely, on their own, to cause person B to suffer physical or psychological harm, but whether the course of conduct as a whole is likely to do so.