“Call the police; he’s going to kill me. He’s poured petrol on me.”
These were Hannah Clarke’s chilling words on the day her ex-partner killed her and their three children in 2020 by dousing them in petrol and setting their car on fire, after enduring years of his abuse.
The question that Ms. Clarke’s parents, family, and friends have asked since that day is, “Why?”
Four years on, Queensland has responded, becoming the second Australian state to criminalise coercive control.
The new law creates a separate crime for the form of abuse, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years for a person found guilty of manipulative behaviour designed to intimidate and isolate a victim, as was the case for Ms. Clarke.
Coercive control has led to multiple murders stemming from prolonged abuse, as seen in cases where victims endure a relentless cycle of emotional, psychological, and economic abuse, along with isolation, intimidation, sexual coercion, and cyberstalking.
Ms. Clarke’s ex-partner, Rowan Baxter, tried to control every aspect of her life, from what she wore and ate to her access to medical care and social media accounts, and had been stalking her online.
They shared a Facebook page because Mr. Baxter didn’t allow Hannah to have her own.
Sue Clarke, Hannah Clarke’s mother, emotionally welcomed Queensland’s decision to pursue justice against coercive control, which ultimately led to her daughter’s tragic death.
The Clarkes, named 2022 Queensland Australian of the Year, operate the Small Steps 4 Hannah Foundation, which educates children and assists victims and their families.
“We will continue to speak out until coercive control is criminalised throughout Australia,” Ms. Clarke said.
She emphasised the need for collective efforts to educate Queenslanders about recognising signs of coercive control.
“We need to keep raising awareness of the dangers of controlling and psychological abuse, so victims are empowered to hold their perpetrators accountable.”
Coercive Control: Leading Cause of Domestic Violence Murders
Minister for Women Shannon Fentiman praised the Clarke’s and Baden-Clay’s “tireless advocacy.”“This bill is the embodiment of a shift of our understanding of domestic and family violence,” she said.
She mentioned that changes to consent laws are meant to enhance the experience of sexual offence victims when they decide to report and seek justice against their perpetrators.
“This is a historic day.”
She anticipates the legislation to take effect by the first half of 2025.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles added that coercive control is a leading cause of domestic violence murders.
“It is insidious, it is abuse, and it does cost lives,” he said.
Queensland and New South Wales (NSW) are now the only Australian states with laws against coercive control after NSW made it a crime in 2022.
Queensland Police will start training officers on coercion in July 2024.
Additionally, Queensland’s new reforms include a model of consent that requires affirmative agreement.
It mandates that people must freely and willingly agree to engage in sexual activity and broadens the situations where consent may not be given.
The laws make it illegal to tamper with or remove a condom without consent, a practice known as “stealthing,” aligning Queensland with most other states.
Women, however, aren’t alone, with 1.3 million men, or 14 percent, having faced emotional abuse from a partner they lived with.
ABS crime and justice head Will Milne stated that there’s a strong link between financial stress and partner violence and abuse.
Challenges to Coercive Control Law
Despite the clear signs of abuse, defining and capturing coercive control presents challenges, according to recent findings from the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOSCAR).The bureau found that coercive control does not predict future violence, let alone murder.
The bureau’s researchers analysed 526,787 relevant police reports using a computer system to spot behaviour linked to coercive control.
They hoped this would help predict domestic violence, but coercive control didn’t give any clue about future violence.
“That research was published months ago, but naturally, it sank without a trace. No way most of our media was going to report a result that could derail the domestic violence industry’s latest weapon against men,” clinical psychologist Bettina Arndt said.
Further, she said lawyers in Queensland are anticipating a surge in coercive control allegations hitting the courts as lawyers work to prevent men from facing jail for these contentious charges.
She explained defining coercive control is tricky, as experts have proposed 22 different definitions, making it hard to precisely understand what it entails.
She also expressed worries about other parts of domestic violence law.
Ms. Arndt said that violence orders are now issued for emotional, psychological, financial, and spiritual abuse, although it doesn’t stop the high rate of them being breached.
“Queensland has more people locked up for breaches of violence orders than the rest of Australia put together,” she said, adding that the number of people jailed for breaking these orders has increased by 54 percent in the past three years.
“We need also to look at other aspects of domestic violence law and ask if they are doing their job,” she urged.
