Coercive Control: Understanding and Experiences in a Post Bill Environment

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Gender-based violence and violence in the home has increased steadily across the globe (Mital & Singh, 2020). NI has witnessed rising reported domestic abuse incidents year on year since 2004/5. Worringly, it has one of the highest rates of domestic abuse motivated femicide per capita, compared to the entirety of Western Europe (PSNI, 2022). The new Domestic Abuse Bill has introduced previously neglected criminalisation and litigative measures concerning abuse aspects, such as coercive control (DoJ, 2021). However, there is little research into the implementation of this new bill, either by tracking reported case amounts and/or exploring understandings of coercive control. Whilst Lagdon et al. (2022) found that public understanding of coercive control is lacking, there is limited research into understanding within statutory organisations and criminal justice authorities. This is significant given the ramifications miscomprehension may have on civil proceedings, and because coercive control is a risk factor for intimate partner homicide (Elliot, 2017). Using a mixed methods approach, in collaboration with Women's Aid, this PhD will utilise semi-structured interviews to provide insight into the effects coercion has on victims of abuse, alongside investigation into statutory understandings of coercive control. Data from MARAC and the PSNI will inform upon regional and demographic disparities between cases. The PhD's originality and significance lies in the underrepresented Northern Irish women's experiences of domestic abuse, in a post-conflict, post-Bill implementation society. The findings will contribute to recommendations for a systemic reworking of support provision and a broad change to cultural, social and legal norms.