Defining "coercive Control" in the Domestic Violence Prevention Act

• Publication year: 2021
• Author: Emily E. Rubenstein

Defining "Coercive Control" in the Domestic Violence Prevention Act

Emily E. Rubenstein

Emily E. Rubenstein has been a practicing attorney in California since 2014. She focuses her Los Angeles practice on family law exclusively. She currently serves on the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Judicial Appointments Committee and Access to Justice Committee. Ms. Rubenstein previously served as co-president of the LGBTQ+ Lawyers Association of Los Angeles.

The Basics of the Domestic Violence Prevention Act

California's Domestic Violence Prevention Act (DVPA) was passed in 1993. It provides domestic violence victims with immediate legal protection in the form of restraining orders and other injunctions against abusers.¹ Under the DVPA, the court may issue a domestic violence restraining order upon reasonable proof of one past act or multiple past acts of abuse.² While people of goodwill can certainly agree that domestic violence is a pervasive societal issue and that victims need protection, the exact way to effectuate this protection is always evolving.

On September 29, 2020 Governor Gavin Newsom signed California Senate Bill No. 1141 (SB 1141) into law. This new legislation added a definition of "coercive control" as a theory for relief under the DVPA.³ Whether SB 1141 is a positive or negative development for California family law and the DVPA is the subject of some debate.

Domestic violence is not "violence" in the traditional sense

California law has long recognized that "domestic violence" is not limited to physical injury or assault. The DVPA is broad. Litigants can obtain domestic violence restraining orders based on non-physical conduct, including threats, harassment, stalking, surveillance, or disturbing the peace of the other party.⁴

Thus, despite the plain meaning of the phrase, California law appreciates that "domestic violence" is not always domestic, nor is it necessarily "violence" in the traditional sense. The crux of domestic violence, no matter its form, is power and control.

Adding a definition of coercive control in the DVPA in the form of SB 1141

SB 1141 adds a specific definition of "coercive control" to the DVPA.⁵ While this form of abuse was already illegal in some countries, including England and Wales, California and Hawaii are the first U.S. states to expressly define coercive control in the law.⁶ In England and Wales, coercive control is punishable by up to five years in jail.⁷

SB 1141 defines coercive control as "a pattern of behavior that in purpose or effect unreasonably interferes with a person's free will and personal liberty."⁸ Examples cited in SB 1141 include unreasonably engaging in any of the following:

1. Isolating the other party from friends, relatives, or other sources of support.
2. Depriving the other party of basic necessities.
3. Controlling or monitoring the other party's movements, communications, daily behavior, finances, economic resources, or access to services.
4. Forbidding or compelling conduct that the other party has a right to engage in or abstain from.⁹

Purpose of SB 1141

The purpose of SB 1141 is simple: to provide more protection for victims.

Authored by California state senator Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park), herself a survivor of domestic violence, the goal is to draw attention to "subtler" forms of abuse that are not always easy to identify.¹⁰

Senator Rubio has a strong history of domestic violence advocacy, having introduced the Phoenix Act in 2019, legislation that extends the statute of limitations for domestic violence felony crimes from three to five years in certain cases. The Phoenix Act also expands training requirements for police officers relating to domestic violence.¹¹

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In its text, SB 1141 expressly references the nationwide increase in domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the way in which "increased isolation of victims has created an environment where abuse, including coercive control, is more likely to go undetected and...