With the government announcing trials of Claire’s Law to give women the ability to find out if their partner has a violent past, many wonder what the real benefits of this scheme will be. Critics of the move have suggested that those who wish to know about their partner’s potential violent past probably already know the answer, or if they are concerned about whether their partner has a history of domestic violence, then they probably shouldn’t be with that person.
However, in reality, those who have had traumatic experiences with partners in the past may feel that learning about their partner’s past will give them peace of mind that maybe they can trust the person they love. However, Claire’s Law is really more of a move to make domestic violence more understood and more people aware of the problem.
Ultimately the ability to find out about the people we are with is nothing new. Private investigators have been doing background checks on partners for many years and even now a detective agency is likely to give you more insight in to the person you are with than Claire’s Law will. After all, they may have had problems with other forms of violence or simply may not quite be the person they say they are.
Of course, people change and no amount of information about the past will tell you exactly what your partner is like now. Again, this makes a detective agency even better to give you a more rounded understanding of a partner since they will use current information and potential past convictions to give a much more complete view of a person.
There are those that say that anyone who needs to ask probably already knows the answer, and if you suspect your partner of abuse then you probably don’t trust them in the way you should. However, for those who have suffered in the past, private investigators could offer comfort and peace of mind that this time the person they are with really is who they say they are.