Content warning: domestic violence
The NSW Government have launched an advertising campaign to raise public awareness and understanding of coercive control.
Using the tagline, “It’s not love, it’s coercive control. Know the signs of abuse,” this campaign uses video, audio and static advertisements with the slogan to show coercive control as a pattern of abusive behaviour over time.
Coercive control is insidious and can manifest in many ways. It is a pattern of behaviour which may include financial abuse, threats against pets or loved ones, tracking someone’s movements, or isolating them from friends and family to control them.
Sarah* says it took her over a year to recognise and accept that she was a victim of coercive control, despite her friends and family saying from really early on in the relationship that something wasn’t right.
“I just kept making excuses for him and defending him,” she said.
“And I don’t really know when it started to feel like us versus the world, but once I was there it was really hard to break out.”
Sarah says that breaking point came when she didn’t have the money to pay for her regular medications because he had taken all of her cash and cards, including deleting her digital cards from her phone.
“I was standing there in the chemist so embarrassed, desperately searching through my bag for my cards,” Sarah said.
“And it was actually this complete stranger standing next to me who must have known, or maybe it was an angel, and she just said so quietly, almost in a whisper: ‘If he took them, get out, get out now’.”
Sarah left the house that night, fleeing to a friend’s house. Her ex became physically violent trying to prevent her from leaving. She got support from the Armidale Women’s Refuge, and then another DV support service in the town she moved to in order to escape her ex.
“I’m a pretty smart and savvy person, or so I thought – I had a good job, a great life… and in a year, it was all gone.”
“But I’d probably be dead if it had not been for that angel whispering at the chemist that day.”
Speaking at the launch of the campaign, Roy Butler, Independent Member for Barwon, said the signs of physical domestic violence are often obvious, but coercive control is not.
“Coercive Control can be even more damaging, and when it occurs, it’s often not noticeable to anyone but the victim and perpetrator,” he said.
“Coercive Control can also be a precursor to physical violence and has no place in society. I welcome this new protection against coercive control.”
The importance of an awareness campaign on this topic was laid bare by market research which showed that 32 percent of respondents had not heard of the term coercive control, and only 26 percent had both heard the term and understood what it meant.
Coercive control has been strongly linked to intimate partner homicide, with the NSW Domestic Violence Death Review Team finding that in 97% of intimate partner domestic violence homicides in NSW between 2000 and 2018 were preceded by the perpetrator using emotional and psychological abuse as a form of coercive control towards the victim.
“Coercive control is an insidious and damaging form of domestic violence – it can leave victim survivors feeling isolated, vulnerable, and alone,” Deputy Premier Prue Car said.
“This campaign is vital in ensuring the broader public know what coercive control looks like, and perpetrators know what they are doing is wrong.”
The campaign launched today was a recommendation of the Joint Select Committee on Coercive Control, which highlighted the need to support community awareness of coercive control prior to the commencement of the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Coercive Control) Act 2022.
NSW is the first Australian jurisdiction to introduce a standalone dedicated offence of coercive control.
The Crimes Legislation Amendment (Coercive Control) Act 2022 will criminalise coercive control in current or former intimate partner relationships in NSW starting from 1 July 2024. If found guilty, perpetrators can face up to a maximum of 7 years in prison.
The campaign was developed with over 70 stakeholders from the Coercive Control Implementation and Evaluation Taskforce and ten associated reference groups. This included victim-survivors through the Lived Expertise Reference Group.
This campaign follows the launch of a website in August 2023, designed to ensure the NSW public has access to credible information about coercive control.
NSW Police are also undergoing coercive control training, to ensure they are prepared for the implementation of this reform.
If you or someone you know are in immediate danger, call the Police on Triple Zero / 000.
For confidential advice, support, and referrals, contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
*not her real name.
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