Coercive Control Legislation: Using the Tort System to Empower Survivors of Domestic Violence

Over the last decade, anti-domestic violence scholars andactivists have sought to recognize and punish a broad form of abuse inintimate partner relationships referred to as “coercive control.”Coercive control is characterized by any pattern of behavior thatisolates, dominates, controls, or deprives the survivor of basic rightsand liberty. Coercive control can, but need not, involve physicalviolence. Because the effects of coercive control are so devastating,several jurisdictions have taken steps to legislate against it, either bycriminalizing the behavior or by including it in civil or family codes.

This Note analyzes the various approaches to legislating againstcoercive control and ultimately recommends against criminalizing thebehavior, as such efforts could cause backlash against survivors andare likely to disproportionately affect marginalized communities. Asan alternative approach, in 2021, California amended section 6320 ofits Family Code to include coercive control as grounds for a domesticviolence restraining order and to provide survivors of coercive controlwith a rebuttable presumption of child custody in their favor in theevent that they have children with their abuser. While Family Codesection 6320 has taken important steps in addressing coercive control,this Note argues that further reform is needed. As a solution, Irecommend amending California’s two domestic violence tort statutesto include coercive control as a cause of action, thereby allowingsurvivors of coercive control to sue their abusers in civil court.