Paul Gregoire reports for Sydney Criminal Lawyers
Domestic violence organisations have been advocating for the criminalisation of coercive control, a series of behaviours that usually sees males acting emotionally abusive towards female partners, and often it occurs in an escalating manner prior to intimate partner homicides.
The NSW government has finally heeded the call, with the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Coercive Control) Bill 2022, which establishes a coercive control offence: abusive behaviour towards current or former intimate partners. And the bill already passed the state lower house on 19 September.
Indeed, the Speakman bill doesn’t even attempt to define coercive control and the nature of the context the practice usually occurs in.
Whilst mainstream women’s groups nationwide have applauded governments moving towards criminalising coercive control that causes ongoing emotional trauma and often escalates into violence, First Nations women’s organisations have been hesitant about how they’ll impact them.
“By excluding all domestic relationships other than current or ex-intimate partners, the bill is excluding kinship violence in Aboriginal communities,” Donovan explained. It also has “the potential to over-criminalise” these communities, as have a range of other laws.
Wirringa Baiya Aboriginal Women’s Legal Centre was part of the coalition that warned of the issues with the legislation on the day it was released, along with DVNSW, Women’s Legal Service NSW and the Redfern Legal Centre.
Read full article (3 November 2022)
