Coercive Control: One Year On

Managing and dealing with the nature and volume of domestic abuse and violence appears to be a significant challenge for governments, police services and other agencies across the world, perhaps due to the offence being described by the World Health Organisation as a “global epidemic”.

The UK Government have made their approach and view of domestic abuse clear, as they claim that “domestic violence and abuse is unacceptable and addressing the issue is a priority for the government”. This viewpoint appears to be supported by the changes within domestic abuse legislation over the past few decades. For example, the recent introduction of ‘coercive control’ legislation by the UK Government is one which arguably signifies the government’s continued desire to eradicate domestic abuse here in England and Wales. Such is the importance placed upon dealing with domestic abuse that the government recently announced plans to update legislation, with the Prime Minister Theresa May stating that she would take personal responsibility for tackling the problems.