Submission to the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry Coercive Control

The discussion paper discusses a broad range of issues. There are no doubt many reforms across the criminal law and related areas that would benefit from review in light of our contemporary understanding of domestic abuse. Our submission is, however, limited to the issue of whether a new, standalone offence should be enacted to criminalise the behaviours known as ‘coercive control.’ We understand the term ‘coercive control’ to refer to a pattern of control and domination in a domestic relationship that can include verbal, economic and psychological abuse, as well as sexual and physical violence. The term is commonly associated with the work of Evan Stark but should not be dependent on that single stream of research and advocacy. The issue of criminalising ‘coercive control’ is significant because many of these abusive behaviours are not yet criminalised, and those that are directly or indirectly criminalised do not adequately recognise the harms caused and/or are difficult to enforce. Significantly, taken individually – rather than as repeated behaviours, or a course of conduct - the impact of some relevant behaviours is likely to be underestimated and could appear to be something that should not be the subject of the criminal law. Criminalisation of this conduct will also afford greater recognition to the harms experienced by women, as coercive control is a gendered form of abuse, most often perpetrated by men against their female partners. We believe that contemporary understandings of the non-physical aspects of domestic abuse, as well as the cumulative impact of that abuse, justifies the introduction of a new offence criminalising coercive control.