UK Help available right now
The National Domestic Abuse Helpline is free and open 24 hours on 0808 2000 247, run by Refuge.
In Scotland, Scotland's Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline is on 0800 027 1234, also 24 hours.
In Northern Ireland, the Domestic and Sexual Abuse Helpline is on 0808 802 1414.
Men experiencing abuse can contact Respect's Men's Advice Line on 0808 8010 327. Abuse is not defined by gender, and the same protective orders are available to anyone.
England and Wales: two main orders
A non-molestation order prohibits someone from using or threatening violence, harassing, pestering or contacting you. Breach is a criminal offence carrying up to five years' imprisonment, which is what gives it teeth.
An occupation order regulates who can live in the family home. It can require someone to leave, keep them out of the surrounding area, or allow you back in if you have been excluded. It does not change who owns the property.
Both come under the Family Law Act 1996. In urgent cases an application can be made without notice, meaning the other person is not told in advance and an order can be in place within a day or two, with a fuller hearing shortly afterwards.
Scotland: interdicts and exclusion orders
Scotland uses interdicts, which prohibit specified conduct. A power of arrest can be attached, and a domestic abuse interdict with such a power makes breach a criminal matter — this is the practical equivalent of the enforcement teeth a non-molestation order carries.
An exclusion order under the Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection) (Scotland) Act 1981 suspends a person's right to occupy the family home. A non-harassment order is also available and breach is a criminal offence.
Scotland additionally criminalised coercive and controlling behaviour through the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, which recognises psychological abuse and controlling conduct as criminal in their own right, not merely as context for physical violence.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland provides non-molestation orders and occupation orders under the Family Homes and Domestic Violence (NI) Order 1998. The Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (NI) 2021 introduced a domestic abuse offence covering controlling behaviour, bringing the position closer to Scotland's.
Legal aid is still available here
This is the most important practical point in the guide. Legal aid for family matters has been heavily cut across the UK, but it remains available where there is evidence of domestic abuse — including for the related financial and children proceedings, not only for the protective order itself.
Evidence requirements are specific and can include letters from a GP, refuge, social services or the police. A solicitor experienced in this work will know exactly what qualifies and can often obtain it quickly. Check eligibility on GOV.UK, and read our legal aid guide for the position in each nation.
You are also normally exempt from the requirement to attempt mediation before going to court, so nobody should be telling you to sit in a room with your abuser to satisfy a procedural step.
When choosing who to instruct, ask directly how often the firm handles abuse cases and whether they do legal aid work — see choosing a solicitor, or search the directory for firms in your area.
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This guide has not yet been reviewed by a practising solicitor. We say so plainly rather than leave you guessing — the same way every firm listing on this site states how far it has been verified.
If you are regulated by the SRA, the Law Society of Scotland, or the Law Society of Northern Ireland, you can review this page. We check your details on your regulator's public register, and if it is published your name, firm and register entry appear at the top of the guide.