More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Coercive control is the attempt to dominate an intimate partner by subjecting them to psychological, sexual, technological or financial abuse. Almost all physical domestic violence is preceded by coercive control.
Last year, there were 26 domestic violence-related homicides in Massachusetts—a more than 40 percent increase over the previous year. Survivors of domestic violence and their advocates are organizing across the state of Massachusetts to pass new laws like HD 1844 and SD 1975 to address the crisis of domestic violence, including coercive control.
“He doesn’t hurt me or anything.”
If there’s one line that sums up Alice, Darling—and every psychological abuse victim’s inner chaos—it’s this one.
Connecticut’s new Jennifers’ Law, which went into effect last October and expanded domestic abuse to include coercive control, addresses the way perpetrators weaponize the court system.
“We’ve faced trauma and been dismissed in our marriages—then we’ve seen the truth dismissed in court. We tell people to leave an abusive marriage and go to get help and be protected, but then the judicial system has to step up to protect us. I hope women hear our stories and are empowered to speak up about Jennifers’ Law too.”
Contemporary attacks on reproductive rights are motivated by many things. Chief among them is a penchant for coercion, hostility to women’s autonomy and self-determination, and a desire to enforce our status as mothers first, and human beings a distant second.
When Amanda Palasciano left her abusive partner, she vowed to help others in a similar position to her. Before leaving she struggled to find resources or support for victims of domestic violence that targeted a more middle-class demographic and detailed non-physical forms of abuse.
In 2021, Palasciano founded Don’t Stay Inc., to provide the resources she wished she had. Don’t Stay works to provide funding to discreetly get victims out of abusive dwellings and into somewhere safe, as well as provide education on coercive control and narcissistic abuse.
In the case of New York City restaurateur Sarma Melngailis, the tactics allegedly used by her “Bad Vegan” husband are no joke—and more states across the country are recognizing “coercive control” under domestic violence law.
Domestic abuse has skyrocketed in the last two years as victims became trapped at home with their abusers, and lifelines to help closed off.
While the onus of preventing or ending domestic abuse should never fall upon victims’ shoulders, there are some red flags you can look out for in your own relationship.
More than 58,000 children are ordered into unsupervised contact with physically or sexually abusive parents after divorce every year.
The double whammy? Domestic abuse survivors, unlike accused criminals, don’t get a free attorney and there’s no organization to fund women to level the legal playing field in high conflict divorce cases. So, some men clearly use the courts as a weapon to drain women of resources, causing them to lose savings, jobs and in some cases their children.
“I didn’t want to leave but I couldn’t afford to stay after spending my last cent on my court battle. I hope to reduce my expenses, pay off legal debts and continue to fight for my children.”
Maid sheds light on the crucial issue of emotional abuse and coercive control— exposing viewers to the multiple systemic reasons why it takes a victim of domestic abuse seven attempts before she escapes for good.
Alex tries out four powerful words for the first time as she’s packing to move to the shelter: “Emotional abuse is abuse.” She said it to America. Are we ready to listen?
Two features of Petito’s case have been strikingly absent from media coverage: her disability, and the myriad signs that Petito’s boyfriend was subjecting her to a form of domestic violence known as coercive control.
Yet Petito’s disability was central to how the system failed her prior to her death. Her case also shows what happens when law and society oversimplify domestic violence and overlook coercive control.