Season 2 Episode 2: Coercive Control Laws: A Discussion with Investigative Reporter and Author Jess Hill
About This Episode
To truly understand the experience of many domestic violence survivors, we need to understand coercive control. Coercive control, one of the key aspects of the Safe & Together Model, is as much about entrapment and the deprivation of liberty as it is about physical violence. In fact, the damage of coercive control can occur without any physical violence. Following the examples of England, Scotland, and Wales, many jurisdictions are exploring updating their domestic violence laws to include coercive control.
In this episode, David and Ruth interview Jess Hill, an investigative journalist and the author of the award-winning book See What You Made Me Do, and discuss her research into coercive control laws, how they are being applied, their impact on abuse victims, and her evolution into an advocate for the criminalisation of coercive control.
Jess also addresses:
The national movement toward criminalising coercive control in Australia and the cultural and system challenges in the application of that law
The pro-contact orientation of family court as an example of the challenges coercive control laws face in implementation
How we need to commit to full independence of women in order to address this insidious liberty crime
Additional Resources
Safe & Together Institute’s domestic abuse–informed trainings
Safe & Together Institute’s upcoming events
David Mandel’s book Stop Blaming Mothers and Ignoring Fathers: How to Transform the Way We Keep Children Safe from Domestic Violence