Findings from a survey of 1,261 Australian victim survivors of coercive control. Victim-survivors were asked whether they believed coercive control should be criminalised & what benefits they thought reform would have.
Findings show overwhelming support that coercive control should be recognised as a crime. Victim survivors believe that the greatest benefit of a criminal offence will be community awareness and understanding of the nature of coercive control and its impact on victim survivors.
Findings also show limited confidence among victim survivors who support criminalisation that it will improve victim survivor safety. Unsurprisingly, this confidence is particularly low among First Nations victim survivors.
Findings provide nuanced insights into victim survivors’ experiences, expectations and wider service system implications. States and territories moving towards criminalisation should carefully consider these findings driven by lived experience.