‘Expand coercive control laws to cover all circumstances’

LAWS against coercive control need to be expanded to cover all circumstances where the abuse occurs, according to a South Galway mother-of-three who was subjected to a harrowing ordeal by a Kilrush man.
That’s the view of Sourney Linnane, who is delighted with the findings of a national survey of 1,000 Irish adults commissioned by Safeguarding Ireland and carried out by RED C.
Martin Mulqueen (53), Ballynote, Kilrush, but with an address in Bawn Street, Strokestown, Co Roscommon, was the third person to be jailed for coercive control in Ireland recently.
Mulqueen pleaded guilty during this trial to three sample charges, including coercive control, assault, and assault causing harm on dates between March and October 2019.
Last March, he received a combined sentence of 54 months, with the final 20 months suspended for four years. The sentence was backdated to the time he went into custody.
Coercive Control is a pattern of behaviour which is designed to exert control over another person. It is used, with intent by the abuser, to make a person dependent and isolate them in order to exploit them, deprive them of their independence – and exercise control over their behaviour and choices. This can have a serious impact and damage a person’s physical and emotional well-being and cause them to change their routine behaviours and lose contact with family and friends.
Ms Linnane pointed out coercive control doesn’t have to be confined to an intimate relationship, it can involve a family member, neighbour, work colleague or best friend.
Before she experienced coercive control during her relationship with Martin Mulqueen, she admitted she didn’t know what this type of control entailed and only gained a full appreciation of what had transpired during counselling.
She welcomed the findings of this survey, which she believes will help to raise public awareness of how common this form of abuse is in the country.
“I was in a coercive control relationship and I didn’t realise it. It can be very hard to pinpoint. It covers such a wide area – financial, mental, physical, sexual.
“Even someone who people think is being very nice can be engaging in coercive control.
“It can cover all age groups – young and old. I wouldn’t have been able to talk about coercive control a month ago, but now I feel very strongly about it because I was in that situation.”
She said a person can be “love bombed” for a period before a serious incident of abuse.
Isolation often forms part of this abuse and Ms Linnane recalled her former partner broke her phone so she couldn’t contact her own family when she needed to.
“It is overwhelming how much they will tell you how much they love you. It is so powerful. It is like a Jekyll and Hyde situation. She stressed if people don’t know what coercive control is, then they will not know where to go to seek help and agreed the Covid-19 pandemic has shone a new light on this serious form of abuse.
She proposed that information about coercive control should be provided to teenagers in secondary schools to improve public awareness of this abuse.
While praising gardai for their hard work, she believes it would be beneficial if judges and solicitors learned more about this abuse.
The survey revealed 86% want laws against coercive control expanded to cover all circumstances in which the abuse occurs; 41% would not know what to do if they witnessed coercive control;
39% would not know who to contact if they needed advice about helping someone experiencing coercive control while 71% said that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought coercive control more to light as a type of abuse. It also found 69% would take steps to stop a circumstance of coercive control they witnessed and
45% said they would be able to identify coercive control.
The RED C research also found that almost a quarter of the coercive control cases that people said they witnessed occurred outside of ‘intimate couple relationships’ which are not legislated for – such as between frail older people and family members, or in the care of people with intellectual or physical disabilities either at home or in an institution.
More information on coercive control is available on the Safeguarding Ireland website at www.safeguardingireland.org.
If any person is in immediate danger they should contact An Garda Siochana at 999 /112.

by Dan Danaher