Criminalising Coercive Control in New Zealand: The Implications

Abstract

This thesis examines whether coercive control (CC) should be criminalised in New Zealand. Scholarship surrounding CC has been evaluated to determine the feasibility of penalising the issue. The phenomenon CC, has been defined as a patterned deprivation of basic human rights that are perpetrated at both intimate and familial levels. In the context of this paper, CC is recognised as a subset of domestic violence (DV) that disproportionately impacts women, and therefore it is a gendered issue. It was established that people belonging to marginalised communities encountered unique challenges that need to be further studied and acknowledged by appropriate agencies. Scholars have commented on the effectiveness of legislations against CC in countries that have criminalised the practice. An overwhelming majority of the scholars stated that CC should not have been criminalised due to the unintended consequences created as a result of the legislation. This thesis contends that CC should not be criminalised in New Zealand but changes should be made to deter instances of CC. Recommendations were made to curb said instances at macro, meso and micro levels. The recommendations encompassed the following: - At a macro level: more research is required to understand the scope of CC in various contexts. Academic attention should be given to gathering data to ascertain the prevalence of CC in marginalised communities, uncovering what specific actions or practices commonly constitutes CC and understanding risk and protective factors to better inform intervention strategies. - At a meso level: Police officers should be retrained in a specific manner to be able to identify occurrences of CC in marginalised communities. Law enforcement officers should use a multi-agency approach that works alongside ethnic-centric agencies to tackle violence. - At a micro level: Campaigns at the macro level should inform the general public on what CC is, how it manifests and where help can be sought. This thesis further recommends that there should be separate resources and laws for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community due to their unique disadvantages.