Coercive Control Jo Sharpen

The (current) DV Definition Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, or between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or members regardless of gender or sexuality. This can encompass but is not limited to the following types of abuse: • psychological • physical • sexual • financial • emotional www.avaproject.org.uk © AVA 2016  Controlling behaviour: a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour.

 Coercive behaviour: an act or a pattern of acts of assault, , and or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim. Predicts homicide more effectively than violence by six times www.avaproject.org.uk © AVA 2016 COERCIVE CONTROL Coercive Control is a strategic course of conduct designed to retain privilege and establish domination in personal life based on fear, dependence and the deprivation of basic rights and liberties.

Not only is coercive control the most common context in which [women] are abused, it is also the most dangerous.

Evan Stark Binderman’s Enforcing Chart of Trivial Demands

Monopolization Degradation of perception Total Demonstrating Induced debilitation; omnipotence exhaustion and omniscience

Occasional indulgences Threats Isolation

• Deprive victim of all social supports • Makes victim dependent on abuser • Discredits victim • Controls finances/phone/ transport • Confined to home Monopolisation of Perception • Eliminates information not in agreement with abusers messages • Punishes actions that show independence or resistance • victim for abuse • Victim focuses on how they caused abuse and their own weaknesses • Unpredictable behaviour • Constant calling/texting etc • Abuser manipulates by being charming to get what is wanted and hostile when demands not met Induced Debilitation, Exhaustion

• Weakens ability to resist • Sleep deprivation • Withholds access to medical care/food/other necessities • and assault in pregnancy • Prolonged Threats

• Threats to kill (victim, self, family, pets) • Threats to take children • Threats of abandonment • Creates anxiety and despair • Outlines abusers expectations and consequences for non-compliance Occasional Indulgences

• Provides positive motivation for conforming • Promises to change • Victim works to ‘earn’ these indulgences • ‘Disneyland’ parent

Omnipotence

• Complete control • • Resistance is futile • Physical assaults • Manipulation of legal system • Using male privilege Degradation • Public humiliation • Forcing participation in degrading acts (often sexual) • Put downs • • Obliterating self-esteem • Punishments • Personal hygiene prevented Enforcing Trivial Demands

• Develops habit of compliance • Punishes for non-compliance with the ‘rules’ • Rules are rigid and unrealistic but frequently change and often contradict •

How abusers exploit mental health problems • Blaming her for his abuse • Elicits sympathy for ‘what he puts up with’ • Telling her (and others) she is mad or hysterical • Telling her she could not cope on her own • Refusing to let her go anywhere on her own, ‘for her own good’ • Speaking for her (preventing her disclosure of violence) • Threatening to have her sectioned • Threatening report to Social Services as unfit mother • Withholding medication, or giving an overdose

© Training Ltd www.dvtltd.com Digital Control

• Accessing text, email or online accounts to gather information or monitor a victim • Using GPS tracking/GEO tagging devices to find victim’s location • Installing surveillance/spyware software on computer or mobile phones • Account takeovers / hacking • Threats to send/share images • Constant communication • Using webcams • Flaming • Outing • Posting abuse • Blackmail, sexting, • Impersonation • Trolling • Reputation damage Intimate partner homicide – From new Standing Together/CWASU research Risk • Steps to identify risk were only undertaken in 8/24 cases by police • Lack of understanding around risks of coercive control • Differing use/weighting of DASH risk checklist • Risk assessment done exclusively with victims only • Need to distinguish between risk identification and assessment and use professional judgement • Victims perception of danger is crucial • Risk is dynamic and fluid and must be regularly assessed • Must not see dv as isolated incidents of physical violence • Need to risk assess perpetrators • Friend/family hold vital information

Law Reform The government announced in December 2014 a new domestic violence law criminalising patterns of coercive, controlling and . This came into force on Dec 29th 2015. Penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine.

Home Sec – coercive control = “tantamount to ”

Testimony of victims could be supported by documentary evidence (emails, texts, bank statements)

Controlling or coercive behaviour does not relate to a single incident, it is a purposeful pattern of behaviour which takes place over time in order for one individual to exert power, control or coercion over another.

This new offence focuses responsibility and accountability on the perpetrator who has chosen to carry out these behaviours. Where the offence applies • The controlling or coercive behaviour must take place “repeatedly or continuously” • The pattern of behaviour has to have a “serious effect” on the victim • The behaviour must be such that the perpetrator knows or “ought to know” that it will • The perpetrator and victim have to be personally connected when the incidents took place have a serious effect on the victim Stalking and Coercive Control

• Stalking is the most dramatic form of tracking and the most common behavioural component of coercive control next to assault (Stark, 2007). DV stalkers are most likely to be violent. 1 in 2 stalkers will make a and then act on it (Mckenzie, McEwan, Pathé, James, Olgoff 2009).

• Homicide is the ultimate act of CONTROL. Control, abuse, stalking and assaultive behaviours may precede it. It is when an abuser has nothing left to lose and they feel they need to re-assert control over the victim that they harm and, sometimes, murder. (paladin)

• 1 in 4 cases the stalker had also targeted victim’s children • 1 in 3 cases the family and friends of the victim were also stalked • 1 in 5 cases the work colleagues of the victim were contacted

In some cases stalkers also use those connected to the victim to gain information: • 40% obtained information from the victim’s friends • 27% obtained information from the victim’s workplace

The average number of people directly affected in a stalking case was 21.

• Source: Paladin

The Impact on Children

www.avaproject.org.uk © AVA 2016 • Perpetrators’ coercive control places children in isolated, disempowering and constrained worlds which can hamper children’s resilience and healthy development and contribute to emotional and behavioural problems (Katz, 2015) • Coercive control also limits adult victims’/survivors’ ‘space for action’ • Micro-regulation and limited opportunities

Impact of coercive control on victim’s parenting

Heightened responsibility for protection of child • Monitoring abuser’s mood/behaviour • Appeasing abuser • Regulating child’s actions to avoid abuse • Shielding child from abuse • Intervening if child is being abused • Directly challenging/confronting abuser • Leaving with child Heightened responsibility for care of child • Inability to trust/rely on abuser to care for child • Decoding signals from child about their needs • Hiding attempts to meet child’s needs • Teaching child about abuse/safety • Supporting everyday needs of child Loss of control over own parenting • Navigating around abusers control • Subject to scrutiny by services/courts • Securing access to resources • Managing safety in midst of chaos Children’s Experiences of Constraint

• What do we mean by constraint in the context of coercive control?

• Constrained use of space / self-expression / regulation of speech and behaviour • Isolation from sources of support • Narrowed ‘space for action’ • Vigilant scanning and monitoring of space • Concept of safe and risky spaces/areas in the home • ‘miniature radar devices’ – striving to predict the unpredictable Children as agents and resistance

• Active intervention to prevent abuse • Strategic behaviour to divert and de-escalate • Working together with non-abusive parent • Experiencing periods of freedom and autonomy • Maintaining emotional support

Practitioners….

• Ask….. • Children and mothers what constraints are placed on their movements, activities, who they can talk to… • Are there things they do/refrain from because of reaction of perpetrator? • Potentially use the ‘checklist of controlling behaviours’ (Lehmann et al 2012)

Recognising and Asking • How will you know if coercive control is happening? • What signs will you look for? • What questions can you ask?

www.avaproject.org.uk © AVA 2016 • Look and Listen – sense of fear Manipulation – of victim, children, professionals, others • Behaviour designed to erode the victim’s dignity, self-worth, autonomy • Isolation • Ask lifestyle questions :

“what’s life like for you?”, “tell me what’s the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning?” “tell me about what you do in this relationship that you would not normally choose to do but are too scared not to?”

Adapted from guidance from safelives www.avaproject.org.uk © AVA 2016 Evidence Gathering (a reminder)

• Email (including secure headers) • Texts, voicemail, social media activity, letters • Objects used in incidents • DNA • Videos/photos • Statements from family and friends • Evidence from civil court matters • Victim Personal Statement • Diaries/incident log • CCTV • Financial records • Communication data such as satnav, mobiles, laptops, routers (can show smartphones outside property) • Need to be able to ATRIBUTE evidence to the perpetrator • All Police forces have digital SPOCs (single point of contact) Hollie Gazzard • Fear and confusion are central to our understanding of coercive control. It is like living in a world of moving goal-posts, shifting sand, like constantly walking on eggshells, a world of everyday terror. And one in which the abuser places invisible shackles on the victim.

• In danger? A simple shake or tap activates Hollie Guard, automatically sending your location and audio/video evidence to your designated contacts. • Different types of alert • Lone working – timer • Journey planning/reporting • Emergency contacts with real time monitoring

Contacts Jo Sharpen 0207 5490 277 [email protected] www.avaproject.org.uk

Twitter: @josharpen @avaproject

Prevention Platform www.preventionplatform.co.uk