A NEW country-wide campaign raising awareness of coercive control was launched in Newport yesterday, supported by a man whose mother and sister were murdered by his abusive father.

Luke Hart is supporting the Welsh Government campaign 'This is Not Love.This is Control’, which aims to help people identify coercive controlling behaviours.

 

Speaking at the launch event, held at Newport’s Riverfront yesterday, he told of first-hand experience of how it can destroy people’s lives, after his mother, Claire, and younger sister, Charlotte, were murdered by his father, who then took his own life.

Mr Hart said: “This Is Not Love. This Is Control is vital to bring coercive control into the spotlight.

“As we did not understand coercive control, we could not understand how the murders of mum and Charlotte had seemingly come out of nowhere.

“Our father had not been explicitly violent towards us until the murders. “We must be frank, domestic abuse exists as a consequence of masculine culture.”

Coercive control is a form of abuse - it can be subtle, difficult to identify and to recognise as abusive. Victims are often left feeling belittled and isolated.

 

Limiting a person’s access to money, dictating what they wear and making them cut contact with their friends and family are examples of coercive control.

 

Other guest speakers at the campaign’s launch including Jane Hutt AM, and Yasmin Khan, a national adviser on violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence for the Welsh Government.

Mrs Hutt, who is the chief whip for the Welsh Government, said: “This campaign is the next step in our on-going pledge to tackle violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence.”

Ms Khan added: “Survivors tell us it can be hard for them to prove what’s happening. They describe a ‘drip, drip’ effect of coercive control; a cumulative escalation, often towards physical abuse.”

Coercive control has been a criminal offence since 2015. Last year, 9,053 offences of coercive control were recorded by police across England and Wales.

 

The campaign forms part of the Welsh Government’s long-standing commitment to ending domestic violence.

If you have experienced coercive control, or any kind of domestic abuse, call the helpline on 0808 8010 800.