Coercive Control - Are You Being Manipulated in Your Relationship?
When you think of domestic violence, the first thing that comes to mind is most likely physical or verbal abuse. However, domestic violence includes a wide variety of acts and behaviours, many of which you may not be aware of. According to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (‘Family Law’), ‘family violence’ includes any behaviour that “coerces or controls a family member or causes them to be fearful.” One example of this is coercive control.
What is coercive control?
The House Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs has defined ‘coercive control’ as “a pattern of controlling and manipulative behaviour designed to intimidate, isolate, and control a person.” Coercive control can often leave victims feeling defeated, disempowered or even somewhat crazy, especially when they are unaware of the tactics employed by their abuser. Coercive control can manifest itself in many ways; some controlling actions can be more difficult to identify than others. Often victims therefore struggle to believe that they are in an abusive relationship and can attempt to justify the behaviour of their abuser.
What does coercive control look like?
Common signs of coercive control include:
Being isolated from friends and family
Being deprived of basic needs
Controlling of finances (e.g., being given an allowance)
Controlling of everyday life (e.g., being told who you can speak to, what you can wear or where you can go)
Controlling of reproductive and/or sexual health choices (e.g., forcing you to stop using birth control)
Use of monitoring devices such as tracking devices
Monitoring of social media accounts, phone calls etc
Name-calling, body shaming, excessive swearing
Damaging property and/or harming pets
Threatening to take your children away and/or threatening to prolong court proceedings to prevent you from seeing your children
Voice Lawyers recently represented a client in court who wished to relocate with her children post-separation. The children’s father initiated court proceedings to determine who the children would live with, where they would live and how much time each parent could spend with the children. (For more information on relocating with children, see our most recent article.)
It was found that the father had misled the Family Report Writer and misrepresented his ability to move to a location that the mother could afford. The judge stated that this “inappropriate controlling behaviour… is capable of falling within the meaning of family violence.”[1] This was significant because it recognised that this deliberate manipulation and misleading was an attempt to control and as such was within the scope of family violence.
If you would like to read the judgment, click here.
Is coercive control illegal?
At present, Tasmania is the only Australian state to have criminalised coercive control.
On 20 July 2022, the NSW government released a draft bill that makes coercive control into a stand-alone offence – the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Coercive Control) Bill 2022 (the Exposure Draft Bill). If the bill were to become a statute, coercive control would be punishable by law and would carry a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment.
For more information on coercive control, check out one of our earlier articles here.
There are a range of family and domestic violence supports and services available to those experiencing coercive control:
1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732
Mensline Aust: 1300 789 978
Open Arms – Veterans & Families Counselling: 1800 011 046
Kids Help Line: 1800 55 1800
Lifeline: 13 11 14
If you are in immediate danger, please call 000 and ask the police about getting an ADVO.
Voice Lawyers help people navigate the complexities of the family law system with confident, practical advice.
This article is general in nature and is not legal advice. If you need help with a family law matter, Voice Lawyers hear you. Give us a call at 02 9261 1954, email us at voice@voicelawyers.com or use the link on our website to book a consultation.
[1] Tarrant & Buttler [2022] FedCFamC2F 413, [64].
