Author: Lisa Aronson Fontes

Lisa Aronson Fontes, Ph.D., is author of Invisible Chains: Overcoming Coercive Control in Your Intimate Relationship. She is a senior lecturer in interdisciplinary studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and trains people globally on topics related to violence against women and children.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey Signs Coercive Control Bill Into Law

Massachusetts just became the seventh state in the country to pass legislation classifying coercive control as a form of domestic violence.

Attorney Jamie Sabino of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute said the survivor and expert testimony that influenced legislators “spelled out the lifetime and generational harm caused by coercive control. Non-physical abuse like revenge porn, which is a form of technology abuse, is typically a precursor to more serious and violent acts, including sexual and physical assault or homicide.”

Texas Case Shows How Abortion Bans Facilitate Domestic Abuse

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Brittni Silva found out she was pregnant after filing for divorce from Marcus Silva in May of 2022.

Marcus recently sued his wife’s friends for helping her obtain an abortion. The man has a long history of coercive control—a type of domestic abuse that can include isolation, manipulation, monitoring, intimidation and verbal, legal, physical and sexual abuse. The Silva case illustrates how this state coercion adds another weapon to an abuser’s controlling arsenal.