Coercive control laws ‘needed’ to protect domestic violence victims

New laws, to be put to Parliament this week, will target the red flags of coercion and control, which research shows is often a prelude to physical violence.

Strictly controlling what your wife wears or where your sister is allowed to go would be covered by a new offence of coercive control, in a bid to crackdown on domestic violence.

Other acts could include threatening to harm a partner’s child or pet, constantly belittling a spouse, controlling their finances or tracking their movements without consent - and perpetrators could face up to 15 years in jail.

The new laws, to be put to State Parliament this week by Labor MP Katrine Hildyard, are an attempt to recognise the danger that such patterns of non-physical abuse pose.

Research shows they are red flags in relationships which are often followed by physical violence or murder and such tactics are overwhelmingly used by men against women.

Women’s safety groups are urging authorities across the country to enact coercive control laws.

The family of Brisbane domestic violence victim Hannah Clarke says they could have prevented the murder of the young mother and her three children at the hands of husband and father Rowan Baxter in February.

Baxter set his family on fire inside their car before taking his own life.

Hannah Clarke with her children Trey, Laianah and Aaliyah. All four were killed by Rowan Baxter in February.

Family and friends say there was a pattern of coercive and abusive behaviour by Baxter towards his estranged wife, including isolation, stalking, preventing her from visiting a doctor and restricting access to food.

South Australian laws already include emotional and psychological harm in the definition of abuse but it is extremely rare that perpetrators are convicted.

It is often difficult for police to gather proof and victims may not even recognise the tactics as abuse.

Ms Hildyard said current laws “are not deterring repeat offenders and are not detecting, nor

dealing with, particular types of insidious abuse like coercive control”.

Her Bill covers acts intended to cause harm between people in intimate relationships, such as married or de facto couples, ex-partners, relatives such as siblings, and people who are reliant on a carer.

It would criminalise acts which intend to humiliate, degrade or frighten a victim, isolate them from support networks or services, restrict their freedom, control or monitor their activities or make them dependent on or subordinate to their abuser.

These offences would attract a maximum seven-year jail term.

That would increase to 15 years in cases involving a child, a weapon, the taking or distributing of invasive images or where the person charged was a repeat offender.

Coercive control is an offence in the UK and Tasmania, while governments in Queensland, Victoria and NSW have launched reviews.

SA Attorney-General Vickie Chapman recognised the danger that controlling tactics pose and has said she will monitor the NSW findings to consider what changes can be made here.