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Research Handbook on Domestic Violence and Abuse
This Research Handbook examines the evolution of understandings and legal definitions of domestic abuse, illustrating the importance of expanding these beyond physical violence to encompass coercive control. Drawing on academic literature, legal doctrine and the lived experiences of victims and survivors, it highlights how responses to domestic abuse can be improved in civil, family and criminal justice systems.
More Information
Critical Acclaim
Contents
More Information
This Research Handbook examines the evolution of understandings and legal definitions of domestic abuse, illustrating the importance of expanding these beyond physical violence to encompass coercive control. Drawing on academic literature, legal doctrine and the lived experiences of victims and survivors, it highlights how responses to domestic abuse can be improved in civil, family and criminal justice systems.
Through an analysis of global legal developments, contributing authors identify failures in the handling of domestic abuse and provide expert insight into how to address these. They focus in particular on the law and processes for obtaining protection orders across jurisdictions, and the handling of domestic abuse in financial and child arrangement proceedings following the breakdown of a relationship. Chapters also cover key issues such as LGBTQ+ intimate partner violence, the prosecution and sentencing of domestic abuse and defences for victims/survivors. The Research Handbook emphasises the importance of effective legal responses to domestic abuse in fulfilling human rights treaty obligations.
The Research Handbook on Domestic Violence and Abuse is an essential resource for scholars and students of family law, criminal law, criminal justice and social policy. It is also an important guide for legal professionals seeking to sensitively handle cases involving domestic abuse.
Through an analysis of global legal developments, contributing authors identify failures in the handling of domestic abuse and provide expert insight into how to address these. They focus in particular on the law and processes for obtaining protection orders across jurisdictions, and the handling of domestic abuse in financial and child arrangement proceedings following the breakdown of a relationship. Chapters also cover key issues such as LGBTQ+ intimate partner violence, the prosecution and sentencing of domestic abuse and defences for victims/survivors. The Research Handbook emphasises the importance of effective legal responses to domestic abuse in fulfilling human rights treaty obligations.
The Research Handbook on Domestic Violence and Abuse is an essential resource for scholars and students of family law, criminal law, criminal justice and social policy. It is also an important guide for legal professionals seeking to sensitively handle cases involving domestic abuse.
Critical Acclaim
‘This international Handbook reviews the state of the law and practice regarding domestic abuse, particularly the increasing attention to coercive control, put on the international map by the remarkable, sadly deceased, Evan Stark. It is a valuable up-to-date compendium and overview on most of the key issues affecting victims, survivors and perpetrators whose cases appear in the legal system. While individual chapters focus on particular countries or states, these patterns and trends are largely universal. A must-read for anyone who wants to know what is happening in the law with regard to domestic violence.’
– Joan S. Meier, George Washington University Law School, US
‘The Research Handbook on Domestic Violence and Abuse deserves to become a “go-to” text for students, academics, practitioners and policy-makers alike. Bringing together world-leading researchers to reflect on the experiences, opportunities and challenges associated with implementing responses to domestic abuse internationally, it provides a wealth of insight that can and should be used to improve access to justice across criminal and family court systems.’
– Vanessa E. Munro, University of Warwick, UK
‘This magnificent, authoritative Research Handbook provides the reader a complete overview on the law on domestic violence and abuse. Scholarly, thoughtful and insightful, it will be the first port of call for scholars in the field.’
– Jonathan Herring, University of Oxford, UK
– Joan S. Meier, George Washington University Law School, US
‘The Research Handbook on Domestic Violence and Abuse deserves to become a “go-to” text for students, academics, practitioners and policy-makers alike. Bringing together world-leading researchers to reflect on the experiences, opportunities and challenges associated with implementing responses to domestic abuse internationally, it provides a wealth of insight that can and should be used to improve access to justice across criminal and family court systems.’
– Vanessa E. Munro, University of Warwick, UK
‘This magnificent, authoritative Research Handbook provides the reader a complete overview on the law on domestic violence and abuse. Scholarly, thoughtful and insightful, it will be the first port of call for scholars in the field.’
– Jonathan Herring, University of Oxford, UK
Contents
Contents
1 Introduction to the Research Handbook on Domestic Violence and Abuse 1
Mandy Burton, Vanessa Bettinson, Kayliegh Richardson and Ana Speed
PART I DEFINING DOMESTIC ABUSE AND CONTEXTS
2 Defining coercive control: Problems and possibilities 9
Cassandra Wiener
3 Sharing and/or threatening to share private, sexual images without
consent as an emerging strategy of coercive control 29
Charlotte Bishop
4 Chronic sexual violation: Sameness and difference – the challenge of
recognising violation in relationships 44
Tanya Palmer
5 Silent suffering: LGBTQ+ intimate partner violence unveiled 62
Esra Ummak
6 The intersection of domestic violence, culture, social marginalisation
and entrapment for Indigenous Women 77
Denise Wilson
7 Christianity and domestic abuse 95
Rebecca Barnes and Kristin Aune
8 Conceptualising domestic abuse in human rights law 115
Ronagh McQuigg
PART II PROTECTION ORDERS
9 Will domestic abuse protection notices and orders improve victim
protection and assure the United Kingdom’s compliance with the
Istanbul Convention? 131
Claire Bessant
10 Civil protection orders when crossing jurisdictional lines: Gaps in the
law and a call for reform to better protect victims of domestic abuse 150
Ana Speed and Lauren Clayton-Helm
11 ‘We’re not the polite police’: LGBTQ+ domestic and family violence
victim-survivors’ experiences with legal actors when seeking help via
the civil protection order system in Australia 169
Ellen Reeves
12 Can law provide survivors with safety? Legal mobilization, legal
consciousness, and protection order decision-making 185
Kathryn J. Spearman, Alesha Durfee, Jill Theresa Messing and Meredith E.
Bagwell-Gray
13 The financial remedy application and beyond: To what extent is the
victim-survivor protected from further abuse? 202
Kayliegh Richardson and Amanda Newby
PART III FAMILY COURTS
14 Domestic abuse, parental alienation and Family Court proceedings 224
Adrienne Barnett
15 Innovative approaches to addressing domestic abuse in family courts 251
Rosemary Hunter
16 Coercive control and the family courts: Comparative perspectives from
Australia and England/Wales 269
Anna Carline, Patricia Easteal and Lisa Young
17 Self-represented litigants and family violence: A comparison between
England and Wales and Australia 286
Jess Mant
PART IV CRIMINAL LAW AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE
18 Court proceedings in which victims of domestic abuse are accused of offending 305
Katy Swaine Williams
19 Inaccessible to women – the general defences of duress and self defence 325
Susan Edwards
20 Preparing a public perceptions study on the use of violent resistance as
self-defence in domestic abuse cases 346
Vanessa Bettinson, Thomas Crofts and Nicola Wake
21 Grooming, ‘rough sex’ and coercive control in the criminal law:
‘Culturally mandated’ sex and violence against women 366
Julia Tolmie, Paulette Benton-Greig and Nicola Gavey
22 Re-framing prosecutorial perceptions of ‘justice’: Towards the goal of
‘thrivership’ 384
Antonia Porter
23 Prosecuting and sentencing domestic abuse in Scotland 401
Rachel McPherson
24 The law of evidence and the victim of domestic abuse 418
Tony Ward and Natalie Wortley
1 Introduction to the Research Handbook on Domestic Violence and Abuse 1
Mandy Burton, Vanessa Bettinson, Kayliegh Richardson and Ana Speed
PART I DEFINING DOMESTIC ABUSE AND CONTEXTS
2 Defining coercive control: Problems and possibilities 9
Cassandra Wiener
3 Sharing and/or threatening to share private, sexual images without
consent as an emerging strategy of coercive control 29
Charlotte Bishop
4 Chronic sexual violation: Sameness and difference – the challenge of
recognising violation in relationships 44
Tanya Palmer
5 Silent suffering: LGBTQ+ intimate partner violence unveiled 62
Esra Ummak
6 The intersection of domestic violence, culture, social marginalisation
and entrapment for Indigenous Women 77
Denise Wilson
7 Christianity and domestic abuse 95
Rebecca Barnes and Kristin Aune
8 Conceptualising domestic abuse in human rights law 115
Ronagh McQuigg
PART II PROTECTION ORDERS
9 Will domestic abuse protection notices and orders improve victim
protection and assure the United Kingdom’s compliance with the
Istanbul Convention? 131
Claire Bessant
10 Civil protection orders when crossing jurisdictional lines: Gaps in the
law and a call for reform to better protect victims of domestic abuse 150
Ana Speed and Lauren Clayton-Helm
11 ‘We’re not the polite police’: LGBTQ+ domestic and family violence
victim-survivors’ experiences with legal actors when seeking help via
the civil protection order system in Australia 169
Ellen Reeves
12 Can law provide survivors with safety? Legal mobilization, legal
consciousness, and protection order decision-making 185
Kathryn J. Spearman, Alesha Durfee, Jill Theresa Messing and Meredith E.
Bagwell-Gray
13 The financial remedy application and beyond: To what extent is the
victim-survivor protected from further abuse? 202
Kayliegh Richardson and Amanda Newby
PART III FAMILY COURTS
14 Domestic abuse, parental alienation and Family Court proceedings 224
Adrienne Barnett
15 Innovative approaches to addressing domestic abuse in family courts 251
Rosemary Hunter
16 Coercive control and the family courts: Comparative perspectives from
Australia and England/Wales 269
Anna Carline, Patricia Easteal and Lisa Young
17 Self-represented litigants and family violence: A comparison between
England and Wales and Australia 286
Jess Mant
PART IV CRIMINAL LAW AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE
18 Court proceedings in which victims of domestic abuse are accused of offending 305
Katy Swaine Williams
19 Inaccessible to women – the general defences of duress and self defence 325
Susan Edwards
20 Preparing a public perceptions study on the use of violent resistance as
self-defence in domestic abuse cases 346
Vanessa Bettinson, Thomas Crofts and Nicola Wake
21 Grooming, ‘rough sex’ and coercive control in the criminal law:
‘Culturally mandated’ sex and violence against women 366
Julia Tolmie, Paulette Benton-Greig and Nicola Gavey
22 Re-framing prosecutorial perceptions of ‘justice’: Towards the goal of
‘thrivership’ 384
Antonia Porter
23 Prosecuting and sentencing domestic abuse in Scotland 401
Rachel McPherson
24 The law of evidence and the victim of domestic abuse 418
Tony Ward and Natalie Wortley
