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When they make all the decisions, and they do anything to keep you even heard the ones you love. It's not love. It's coercive control.
Have you seen or heard that ad? It's part of a new campaign by the New South Wales Government to raise public awareness and understanding of coercive control. Using the tagline "it's not love, it's coercive control." The ads feature different patterns of behavior, including financial abuse, threats against pets or loved ones, tracking someone's movements and isolation from friends and family. Hi, my name is Yasmine and this is Law for Community Workers. In this special episode, we're spotlighting coercive control, and why it's important for all community workers to understand this new change in criminal law. I'll also share where you can find more information, training and resources to help you support the people you work with. The themes in this episode may be distressing for some listeners. If you need support at any time help is available, contact 1800 respect on 1-800-737-7320 or via 1800 respect.org.au
As of the first of July 2024, coercive control is a criminal offence in New South Wales. Government resources say that the offence is when a person uses abusive behavior towards a current or former intimate partner with the intention to coerce or control them. It is repeated patterns of physical or non physical abuse used to hurt, scare, intimidate, threaten or control someone. Traditionally, criminal law surrounding domestic violence has been understood to be an incident or series of incidents of physical violence. But researchers have said for decades that abuse can involve far more than acts of physical violence. Between 2000 and 2018, the New South Wales Domestic Violence Death Review team found that in 97% of intimate partner domestic violence homicide cases, the victim had experienced coercive and controlling behaviors before being killed. So where did this term coercive control come from? Whilst the language of coercive control may be new to a lot of people, its principles and behavior certainly aren't. The term was popularized by sociologists Evan Stark, who labeled coercive control as a pattern of behavior which seeks to take away from the victim's liberty or freedom to strip away their sense of self, that it's not primarily a crime of violence. It's first and foremost a liberty crime. So what are the red flag behaviors under these new laws was coercive control is not limited to a list of specific acts. People who have experienced coercive control say that these behaviors can involve physical abuse, sexual violence and coercion, monitoring, stalking and surveillance, regulation and micromanagement for example, being told how to dress restrictions on freedom and independence, verbal abuse, emotional and psychological abuse, for example, gaslighting, cultural, spiritual and religious abuse, reproductive coercion and abuse, animal abuse, and threats of self harm and suicide. It's important to note that behaviors in every situation can look really different. Victim/survivors often use the analogy of a spider web - that to someone experiencing coercive control, it feels like they are tied to the abuser in a trap. There can be so many parts that make up the pattern of the web, and it's sometimes hard for themselves and others to see.
So why is it important for community workers to understand coercive control? Support Workers, health care professionals and other community workers are often the first point of contact for people experiencing coercive control. Like with other issues, you may also be working with a client on a particular problem, but as you are spending more time with them, you start spotting red flags of other underlying issues. Community workers play a key role in assisting with referrals and getting people to the help they need. And we know that the legal sphere isn't the only place to address and prevent domestic abuse and violence. Community Services play a key role in training, education and engagement to change behavior and prevent abuse. As stated in the Australian Women Against Violence Alliance's Issues Paper on the criminalization of coercive control - "with or without criminalization, a whole system approach is required to address family and domestic violence. Adequate and sustained funding and resourcing is needed to ensure training for staff and engagement with the community at large on what constitutes violence and the laws and services to support victims survivors." Now, the government acknowledges that coercive control can happen in a lot of other types of relationships. But this new law only applies to current and former intimate partner relationships. And they have made this distinction because coercive control has been so strongly linked to intimate partner homicide. The New South Wales Government has said that in 2026, they will start reviewing the legislation to consider whether it should be expanded to criminalize coercive control in other types of relationships. So how can you find out more about these laws, download resources and attend training? The New South Wales Government has created a web page with information, videos, translated resources, social media tiles, and more all about coercive control. You can find it at www.nsw.gov.au/coercivecontrol. Legal Aid New South Wales also has a coercive control training package that includes an E Learning Module, tip sheets and a webinar. It's been made specifically for domestic and family violence specialists workers, but any community worker is able to access the resources and use what is relevant to them. You can find these resources on the community workers page on the Legal Aid New South Wales website. We'll put the link to that and more in the show notes for this episode. That's all for now. Stay tuned to this podcast, our webinars and email alerts for more information, training and resources about coercive control coming soon. I'll leave you with the audio from a video animation from the New South Wales government's coercive control webpage about how to spot the signs of coercive control. Don't forget to check the show notes for a link to that webpage and more till next time.
It can be hard to tell if someone you know is experiencing coercive control. They might not tell you what's happening, because they might feel scared or ashamed. Or they might not realize that it's abuse. But coercive control is dangerous. So it's important to know the signs. If a person is experiencing coercive control, they might stop spending as much time with their friends and family because the abusive partner is trying to isolate them. They might seem anxious, afraid or withdrawn, especially around their partner. You might notice they have to ask their partner for permission before making small decisions or spending any money. When they're together. You might notice their partner often speaks for them or says things to shame them, embarrass them or put them down. If you're worried that someone you know is experiencing coercive control, there's help available contact one 1800 respect to find out how you can help