On September 29, 2020, California became the second state in the USA to adopt coercive control legislation. State Senator Susan Rubio‘s Coercive Control Bill was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom. “I thank Governor Newsom for signing this bill. My hope is that it empowers victims to come forward, and it becomes something that our society understands and recognizes as domestic violence,” said…
Coercive Control
Coercive control is pattern of behavior used by one person to harm, punish, frighten, or threaten another person. It is considered the most dangerous and malicious type of intimate partner and family violence as it is a form of psychological torture. Domestic violence occurs in the context of coercive control. Moreover, it is the foundational strategy used to accomplish the subjugation, oppression, and exploitation of women.
Signs of coercive control include:
– Monitoring your time
– Taking control of your daily life
– Devaluation
– Obstruction of Employment
– Financial abuse
– Criminal damage
– Isolation
– Rules and Regulations
– Deprivation of Basic Needs
– Monitoring Communication
– Threats
– Sexual Assault
It was first criminalized in the UK in 2015. To learn what other countries and states have laws against it, log onto The Coercive and Controlling Legislation Global Database, which we developed in 2020 to monitor legislative updates.
I guarantee there is an entire generation that will instantly relate the word isolation to the 2020 COVID-19 crisis. I do not. I will not. Every time I hear that word, my past haunts me. Images flash in my mind. But they are not of the present social distancing, wearing a mask, quarantine, and antibody testing. The images brought to my mind…
CHILDREN CAN BE TARGETS for coercive control in dysfunctional families, according to Dr. Evan Stark, author of the book Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women in Personal Life. Research studies show that the coercive control of children occurs in 45% of families where domestic violence is practiced. It is used as part of an abusive partner’s wider campaign of intimate partner…