A new study led by Dr. Kelli MacMillan has exposed major holes in our public awareness of coercive control. This type of abuse is frequently overlooked. This limited the research sample largely to Western Australians. It highlights the urgent need for education campaigns and legislative action in a state that does not yet have laws criminalizing coercive control.
It’s the power of collaboration that convened 38 different institutions. These partners were Curtin University, Macquarie University, WA Health, Ulster University (UK), Northern Health and Social Care Trust (UK) and Als Research (Denmark). New research from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence finds the public’s knowledge about coercive control terrifyingly low. This disturbing trend affects young adults 18-24 years of age, as well those with less education and in lower income brackets.
The Nature of Coercive Control
Coercive control is about patterns, it is about persistent and torturous, continuous and cyclic behavior. These acts are meant to intimidate and control an ex-partner. Dr. MacMillan wants people to understand that this kind of abuse can show up in more subtle ways, for example, it’s not always easy to spot.
“Coercive control is a form of abuse that often goes unrecognized,” – Dr. Kelli MacMillan.
The effects of coercive control are not limited to individual victims, but ripple through entire family units. According to Dr. MacMillan, this form of psychosocial abuse is a frequently underestimated risk factor for intimate partner and domestic violence. Yet, it usually fuels the power imbalance in these partnerships.
“Coercive control is almost always the underlying dynamic in intimate partner and family domestic violence, with long-lasting, cumulative and pervasive effects for both the victim survivor as well as the family system in which that abuse can occur,” – Dr. Kelli MacMillan.
The research aims to facilitate earlier identification of coercive control behaviors, which could prevent escalation into physical violence or even homicide.
Gaps in Awareness and Legislative Action
This study highlights a concerning lack of public knowledge of coercive control in Western Australia. Right now, there’s no federal legislation to address this urgent crisis. During the period of the study, there were no public education campaigns aimed at teaching people what coercive control is.
Given what we know from Dr. MacMillan’s findings, it’s younger adults who are the most unaware when it comes to coercive control dynamics.
“Our results show that younger adults are less aware of coercive control, and this tells us that we need to be targeting adolescents and young people about what healthy relationship dynamics look like, during the time when our first experience of an intimate partner relationship generally occurs,” – Dr. Kelli MacMillan.
This gap in knowledge underscores the urgency for policy changes and educational initiatives that can enhance the community’s understanding of coercive control.
Collaborative Efforts for Change
Dr. MacMillan’s research group is committed to using research to shape policy. They plan creative educational approaches that improve public awareness and understanding of coercive control. To support these efforts, she worked with WA Health to develop materials using research findings from the study.
“I recently worked with WA Health to develop a resource using the research findings from this study, as that is one of the next steps in the translation of these findings into our community to effect change,” – Dr. Kelli MacMillan.
Beyond the local efforts, a new international collaboration is taking shape, led by Australia, Denmark, Northern Ireland and Singapore. This initiative is therefore in part about better understanding beliefs and attitudes toward coercive control across different cultural contexts. These latest results from this partnership were recently displayed as a poster at the European Domestic Violence Conference in Barcelona.
The study’s research paper titled “Public Awareness in Australia About Coercive Control in the Context of Intimate Partner Relationships” has been published, with further research comparing initial findings from Northern Ireland to those from Denmark already submitted for review.