The NSW government has committed to outlawing the form of intimate abuse known as coercive control following an inquiry, in what domestic violence experts are hailing as a "huge win".
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CEO of the Illawarra Women's Health Centre Sally Stevenson said the move would provide legal protection for women who were previously overlooked by the system.
"It's a tectonic cultural and legal shift," she said.
"Until now domestic violence charges have only been able to be prosecuted based on a single incident, which usually involves physical violence, so a lot of tactics abusers use were not able to be prosecuted."
Coercive control is a pattern of behaviour that isolates, humiliates and degrades victims, so they lack the confidence and resources to leave a partner.
It is just as serious as other forms of domestic abuse; the NSW Coroner's domestic violence death review team notes in its most recent report that a number of its cases were not preceded by an evident history of physical violence.
Instead, they used "extreme manipulation and controlling behaviours" to avoid police detection.
This includes things like isolating them from friends and family, monitoring communications, controlling finances or covertly tracking them using spyware or other settings on their mobile phone.
The people they inflicted this control on often did not know they were being abused and thought what they were experiencing was "part of ordinary relationship dynamics", the report notes.
Attorney-General and Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention Minister Mark Speakman released the government's response on Saturday, indicating support for 17 of the inquiry's 23 recommendations.
Some of the recommendations being adopted include the introduction of a new, stand-alone offence for coercive control as well as amendments to existing laws.
Shellharbour MP Anna Watson has pushed for coercive control to be recognised since 2020, and said she hoped to see the Attorney-General go a step further and introduce mandatory sentencing for coercive control charges.
"Hopefully it means that women and children will have more protection under the law," she said.
"I hope he takes all of this on board and finally ensures it is recognised as a criminal offence and is appropriately sentenced."
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