RT Article
T1 Incredible Women: Legal Systems Abuse, Coercive Control, and the Credibility of Victim-Survivors
JF Violence against women
VO 31
IS 3/4
SP 767
OP 788
A1 Reeves, Ellen
A2 Fitz-Gibbon, Kate
A2 Meyer, Silke
A2 Walklate, Sandra 1950-
LA English
YR 2025
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1916620949
AB Research has long demonstrated that victim-survivors of intimate partner violence face barriers to being believed when they seek help via the legal system and are simultaneously at risk of their abuser weaponizing the legal system against them. This article draws on the experiences of 54 women victim-survivors of coercive control in Australia who had experienced legal systems abuse within criminal and civil protection order systems. Drawing on feminist legal theory, we highlight that the legal system continues to disbelieve women and validate abusers. These experiences hold implications for victim-survivor views on the merits and risks of criminalizing coercive control.
K1 civil protection orders
K1 criminal legal system
K1 feminist legal theory
K1 legal systems abuse
K1 Coercive Control
DO 10.1177/10778012231220370