sca evaluationa

7/25/2019 SCA Evaluationa

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incapacitation, BETTER protection to victims experiencing repeated or continuous abuse

(indiv)By adding coercive control to its criminal law, the UK is adopting an

international best practice. In doing so it is shifting the emphasis from single

incidents of physical or psychological violence to patterns of conduct that aremore typical of domestic violence. Although many domestic violence laws

currently criminalize non-violent offenses such as psychological or economic

abuse, those definitions are usually vague, causing problems for both the victim

and the government. Abusers often manipulate these laws, claiming that the

victim psychologically abused them by doing things like name-calling or nagging,

thus provoking the abuser to use physical violence. Even if psychological abuse

laws are used to protectnot targetvictims, these violations are hard to

prosecute because of their broad and ambiguous definitions.

By focusing on a pattern of domination instead of individual acts of psychological

violence, the concept of coercive control is designed to avoid turning the law

against the victim and treats the assault on the victims autonomy with the

seriousness it deserves. Identifying coercive control as domestic violence

validates the experiences of many victims, some of whom report that the

cumulative impact of controlling behavior is more harmful than isolated incidents

of physical violence. Criminalizing coercive control provides a tool to redress the

experiences of many victims of domestic abuse,

1. deterrence send out message that cannot violate trust in therelationship (public) stop short

2. will raise awareness about the many types of domesticabuse that can ruin lives and encourage more people toseek help.

To close a gap in the law resulting from a non-comprehensive

denition of domestic violence, the !overnment has created a newo"ence of coercive or controlling behaviour.

The purpose of the new #$1% &ct is to '''. The reasons forcriminalisation of such an o"ence can be categorised into the ''''''and ''''''. The prosecution of perpetrators will not onl protectcurrent victims, but potential ones too. t also serves as a form ofpunishment to the perpetrator. t is also a form of deterrence as thecodication of the new o"ence sends a message that it is wrong to*violate the trust of those closest to ou+ and inict *emotional andcontrolling abuse+.


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ictims who would otherwise be subected to sustained patterns ofdomestic abuse will be better protected under a new o"ence,

The government/s new coercive or controlling behaviour o"encewill

mean victims who e0perience the tpe of behaviour that stops shortof serious phsical violence, but amounts to e0treme pschologicaland emotional abuse, can bring their perpetrators to ustice

inister for 2reventing &buse and E0ploitation 3aren Bradle said4(https455www.go0ev.u65government5news5coercive-or-controlling-behaviour-now-a-crime)

*7o one should live in fear of domestic abuse, which is wh thisgovernment has made ending violence against women and girls apriorit.

Reasons for victims not stepping out:- 8ear of retaliation- some victims do not thin6 that what is happening to them is

wrong.

Past:The 9nited 3ingdom previousl e0panded its cross-governmentaldenition of domestic violence to include coercive control. Thecross-governmental denition was used b governmentdepartments to target support services but was not a legal denitionor part of the criminal law/s denition of domestic abuse.

http://globalrightsforwomen.org/2015/02/06/targeting-omestic-abuse-in-the-unite-!ingom/

!overnment adopted a new denition of domestic violence in arch

#$1:, it was not et a statutor denition, meaning that until thisBill ;ommittee there were gaps in the law whereb individuals couldperpetrate domestic violence and abuse and could not be arrestedfor that behaviour.not e"ective

so


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Purpose of #$":- Encourage people to come forward,- (;urrentl4) =ow > of issues ?> of issues reported to police

end up in conviction

- (conse@uentalist) 7;&2&;T&TA7 297


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- *1st problem+ 8ocus on isolated events & hit B butdomestic abuse is a continuous process happens over along period has cumulative e"ect pett incidents loo6in the historical conte0t, can see the patterns of abusivebehavior

- *2nproblem+ law of assault emphasise phsical violence, victims report non-phsical sometimes much moredamaging emotional, pschological (withholding food,mone, isolating tactics-cannot see famil and friends,humilaiation)

refuge u6 stats fromhttp455www.stopvaw.org5uploads5evan'star6'article'nal'1$$H1#.pdfK


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the seriousnessof the o"ence4o the more serious the o"ence, the more li6el it is that a

prosecution is re@uiredPo whether the o"ence is li6el to be repeatedP Ghen deciding the level of seriousness should include the suspectOs culpabilit

and the harm to the victim b as6ing themselves the @uestions at b) and c).o

the culpabilit) of the efenant4 the suspectOs level of involvementP

o the e0tent to which the o"ending was pre-meditatedPo whether an threats were made before or after the

attac6Po whether the defendant has an previous convictions or

out of court disposals, or record of an other o"ending whilston bail or whilst subect to a court orderP

o whether the o"ending was or is li6el to be continued,repeated or escalatedP

o the suspectOs age or level of maturitP (below 1H)o whether the suspect was su"ering from an mental or

phsical ill health before, or at the time of the o"ence ta6ingplaceP

the circumstances of an the harm cause to thecomplainant4 The greater the vulnerabilit of the victim, the more li6el it is that a prosecution is

re@uired. This includes where a position of trust or authorit e0ists between thesuspect and victim.


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(depression and an0iet) footnote diminished inaccurate this must be ta6en

into consideration

if there were an) chilren or other vulnerableepenants *incient too! place in the presence ofchilren+ living in the househol

o whether the o"ence too6 place in the presence of, ornear a childP

o an continuing threat to the health and safet of thecomplainant(despite irrespective of the relationship status), oranone else who is, or ma become involvedP

o the histor of the relationship, particularl if there hasbeen an violence in the pastP

hat is the impact on the communit),

The greater the impact of the o"ending on the communit, the more li6el it is that a

prosecution is re@uired. n considering this @uestion, prosecutors should have regard tohow communit is an inclusive term and is not restricted to communities dened blocation.

(8 !AT GARD


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//(Is the creation of a discrete offence of coercive control ...)

gap in the law: legislative gap in terms of the criminal justice protection currently availablefor victims of domestic violence and/or abuseresults from the misconceptionthat the harmof domestic violence primarily results from the infliction of physical harm, thus leaving manyvictims who experience coercive control and emotional and psychological abuse outside of thelaws protection.

incident-based approachtowards non-fatal oences + focuson physical violence in limited circumstances results in theseparation of individual incidents of violence from the contextin which they occur decontextualize the acts of atomisticindividuals means that the focus will be on the indivi incidentthe D is being charged with (need to look at the biggerpicture only when the context of ongoing coercive controlis taken into account that seemingly small and trivial incidentscan be seen to have a detrimental eect on the victim! as aresult of removing the individual from the context in whichthe crime occurs" the criminal #ustice system abstracts thecriminal incident from the rest of the defendant$s pattern ofbehaviour and actions%

&hy context impt' where physical and non-physical formsof violence andor abuse occur within a relationship" context iscrucial%

)uerkheimer: law needs to be capable of considering therelationship as a whole enable courts to see that thecoercive and controlling behavior connects seemingly

unrelated events%** *

,riminalizationlegal clarity provides the opportunity topromote a clearer understanding of the lived experience ofdomestic violence andor abuse that many victims suer

encourage victims to seek support from the criminal #usticesystem or alternative agencies%

criminal law is limited in what it can achieve in terms ofcombatting domestic violence% .s /anna succinctly explains:.lthough the legal system alone cannot end violence againstwomen" its role in providing remedies to victims and deterring

abusers is central to the greater social struggle%0

new discrete oence nonetheless could support change and

clarify the behaviour and harm of domestic violence andor
https://www.google.com.sg/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwiWwM6w75rKAhUBnxQKHVRsB6AQFggbMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fpublication%2F280936472_Is_the_creation_of_a_discrete_offence_of_coercive_control_necessary_to_combat_domestic_violence&usg=AFQjCNF_w9jCoX2axgL3r-E23uEmqMecuw&sig2=RihZkT5-14vlXsYX0p-vcghttps://www.google.com.sg/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwiWwM6w75rKAhUBnxQKHVRsB6AQFggbMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fpublication%2F280936472_Is_the_creation_of_a_discrete_offence_of_coercive_control_necessary_to_combat_domestic_violence&usg=AFQjCNF_w9jCoX2axgL3r-E23uEmqMecuw&sig2=RihZkT5-14vlXsYX0p-vcg


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abuse and" as )adros emphasises" sends a 1symbolic$ message"

as well as providing practical means for change%2

cannot be just for symbolic purposes!also for deterrence)he importanceof prosecuting domestic violence andor abuse for the publicinterest" and not solely the individual victim" is furtheremphasised by Dempsey% ,oncerned with the philosophicalarguments for the prosecution of domestic violence" sheargues that it is insuicient to #ust criminalise the wrong forsymbolic reasons% .ny criminalisation that seeks to achievecondemnation of the wrong must be habituated within thesystem and consistently applied" rather than being merely aseries of random condemnatory incidents% 3or this habituationto occur" a successful prosecution system must exist that

1promotes the freedom of future victims$%4

)he criminal#ustice system is unable to achieve this with a focus onphysical harm rather than restraints on a person$s capacity toexercise their freedom fully%

criminal #ustice system has tended to focus on incident-based"

physical forms of violence*5

)he implication being that whether these threats are coerciveor not cannot be #udged ob#ectively6 they depend upon the

social context of the relationship and whether the victim hasreason to believe the threats can and will be carried out%7

&hy 8,. more appropriate than 9..

non-fatal oences are focused on single isolated incidents"thus not capturing the ongoing nature of domestic violenceandor abuse% )he non-fatal oences have been construednarrowly where the victim experiences non-physical harmwithin the context of an intimate or family relationship%

he primary legislation used to prosecute perpetrators ofdomestic violence andor abuse remains the 9ences .gainstthe erson .ct 52 and the common law oences of assault

and battery%7;.nalysing the theoretical underpinnings andpractical application of these oences reveals that the courtsconceptualise and measure harm without reference to contextor the presence of coercive control% )hese oences are thuspremised upon physically violent acts which causepredominantly physical in#ury with their place on the

spectrum of harm being determined according to an ob#ectivestandard of outcome%


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of harm that does not always correspond to the in#uryexperienced by the victim from a pattern of coercive orcontrolling behaviour which may or may not involve physically

violent acts%75

(Is the creation of a discrete offence of coercive control ...) //

Strengthening the Law on Domestic Abuse Consultation Summary of

Responses5, Home Office (Dec. 2014),available

athttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/3

89002/StrengtheningLawDomesticAbuseResponses.pdf.

Evan Stark,Re-presenting Woman Battering: From Battered Woman Syndrometo Coercive Control, 58 Alb. L. Rev. 973 (1995).

Evan Stark,Re-presenting Battered Women: Coercive Control and the Defense

of Liberty, Les Presses de lUniversite de Quebec (2012)

Definition of Domestic Violence, UN

Women,http://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/398-definition-of-domestic-

violence.html.

Dutton et al.,Development and Validation of a Coercive Control Measure for

Intimate Partner Violence: Final Technical Report, National Institute of Justice

(2006).
https://www.google.com.sg/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwiWwM6w75rKAhUBnxQKHVRsB6AQFggbMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fpublication%2F280936472_Is_the_creation_of_a_discrete_offence_of_coercive_control_necessary_to_combat_domestic_violence&usg=AFQjCNF_w9jCoX2axgL3r-E23uEmqMecuw&sig2=RihZkT5-14vlXsYX0p-vcghttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/389002/StrengtheningLawDomesticAbuseResponses.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/389002/StrengtheningLawDomesticAbuseResponses.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/389002/StrengtheningLawDomesticAbuseResponses.pdfhttp://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/398-definition-of-domestic-violence.htmlhttp://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/398-definition-of-domestic-violence.htmlhttps://www.google.com.sg/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0ahUKEwiWwM6w75rKAhUBnxQKHVRsB6AQFggbMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fpublication%2F280936472_Is_the_creation_of_a_discrete_offence_of_coercive_control_necessary_to_combat_domestic_violence&usg=AFQjCNF_w9jCoX2axgL3r-E23uEmqMecuw&sig2=RihZkT5-14vlXsYX0p-vcghttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/389002/StrengtheningLawDomesticAbuseResponses.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/389002/StrengtheningLawDomesticAbuseResponses.pdfhttp://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/398-definition-of-domestic-violence.htmlhttp://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/398-definition-of-domestic-violence.html

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