Coercive control under spotlight in new ad campaign
A campaign raising awareness about coercive control is being rolled out ahead of landmark legislation that will criminalise the poorly understood offence in NSW.
"It's not love, it's coercive control," is the campaign tagline to run alongside ads depicting examples of abusive and controlling behaviour.
NSW in July will become the first Australian jurisdiction to outlaw coercive control with a standalone dedicated offence punishable by up to seven years in jail.
Some 97 per cent of intimate partner domestic violence homicides in NSW between 2000 and 2018 were preceded by coercive control.
Women's Minister Jodie Harrison said coercive control could include being disconnected from friends and family, having movements tracked, being told what to wear, not being allowed to get a job and being put in a position where it's impossible to leave.
"In isolation, these behaviours might seem minor, but when they add up, they are coercive control," she told reporters on Wednesday.
Deputy Premier Prue Car said the education campaign was vital to ensure people knew what coercive control looked like and to let perpetrators know what they were doing was wrong.
"If people don't understand that the behaviour they're being subjected to is coercive, controlling, abusive and against the law, then this law will fail," Attorney-General Michael Daley said.
Author and educator on coercive control Jess Hill said the majority of victim survivors did not know they were in an abusive relationship because coercive control was often invisible.
"That's why this campaign, which clearly shows the sorts of scenarios that so many people who are targeted by coercive controllers are experiencing is so important ... it's making coercive control visible."
But Greens MP Abigail Boyd said the campaign was "entirely insufficient".
"Compare this so-called education campaign to what was done in Scotland and the UK, and the scale of ambition is just worlds apart," she said.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said the government was being "too slow" on pursuing tougher measures against the state's most dangerous domestic abusers.
Measures included a possible register for repeat offenders, identifying high-risk perpetrators before conviction as well as giving police power to disclose an individual's previous violent or abusive offending.
"This program has been rolled out in England in the past," he said in reference to a UK scheme referred to as "Clare's Law".
"There's a solid evidentiary base there that it saves lives and the evidence is there that it could be done in NSW."
A snap national cabinet was held with state and territory leaders on Wednesday to address what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called a "domestic violence national emergency".
Cabinet agreed to almost $1 billion in measures including financial support for women escaping violent relationships and a campaign to counter misogynistic views online.
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