Thread by @DrWilliams

1/Thread 🧵 Trigger warning

Dear @MarkSpeakman

I need to talk to you about the Coercive Control bill you are trying to quickly push through before the election.

First, let me establish that I very much want to see coercive control criminalised.

However….
@AbigailBoydMLC

2/ this bill is not fit for purpose & here’s why

Your bill says that the survivors must be able to prove that the abuse was carried out with ‘an INTENT to control the victim’

But, here’s the thing…
#auspol #coercivecontrol @coercivecontrol @DrEmmaKatz @DrKathlWild @DrProudman

3/ Coercive control is ALL ABOUT disguising abuse with a benevolent intent.

Almost every component of coercive control has a false, BUT superficially good intent.

Let’s go through each component.
@sally_stevensxn @LynAnge11 @jessradio @RonniSalt @sammostyn @DrKate_Miller

4/ Love bombing - the whole point is to create an environment of trust.

The goal is to make her sing his praises, to make everyone believe his ‘intent’ is good.
The real intent is to make sure no one believes her when she says he is hurting her @kellyanntansley @grantwyeth

5/ Isolation - NO abuser says ‘I want you to have no support network’ He isolates her by telling her her friends don’t like her, by making up lies about her family. The perceived intent is concern but The Real Intent is to stop her from having somewhere to run @custodypeace

6/ Gas lighting- he will tell her to seek mental health care for her ‘crazy’ he will pretend he is concerned about her health. The perceived intent is to care for her well-being The real intent is to destroy her esteem and her sense of autonomy @kelfuller @ADanielOAM @abcnews

7/ Monitoring devices - he will say he does it because he loves her. …to ‘build trust’ ‘demonstrate closeness’ ‘ have a close relationship. But the Real Intent is to instill fear and anxiety. Making it harder for her to escape.
@thecrimeanalyst @thecrimeanalyst @PhilCleary_Ind

8/ Financial control- he will say his intent is to ‘let you stay at home worth the kids’ ‘make sure bills are paid ‘ ‘protect our assets’ ‘secure our future’ . But we know, that the Real reason is to keep her under his control. To cripple her ability to escape his abuse. @DV_NSW

9/ We have tried to tell you these things Mr. Speakman. I’m not sure why expert opinion has been disregarded in this bill.@JaneCaro
@sallymcmanus @DavidPocock @FeeBenson @jennyleong @AlexGreenwich @TheblueTake @DLulabele @JMoncktonSmith @JaneTribune @clementine_ford @MFWitches

10/ But here’s what I do know.

To put a survivor of domestic violence in a position where she is responsible for proving what he was thinking when he was abusing her is setting her up for failure & traumatisation. @jayashrikulkar1 @LouiseKNewman @ManjulaOConnor @DrAsthaTomar

He’s been making excuses for his behaviour throughout the relationship- & his intent will NEVER look bad.
That’s the point.
That’s why coercive control works.

That’s why this bill won’t work. We did try to tell you this but it appears you may have forgotten. @dhanyajmani @davtw2