The importance of criminalising coercive control is reflected in the experience of Scotland where 400 cases of service control were registered within 3 months of enacting the law (BBC, 2019). In order to criminalise coercive control, it is important to view it from the perspective of feminist criminology. Feminist criminology focuses on female experiences of crime, sexist operation of the criminal justice system and the role of gender in criminological theory.
The female experience in being a victim of domestic abuse which is not entirely different from coercive control has been more than that of men. For instance, one in every six Australian women and in comparison one in every sixteen men since the age of 15 have been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence by the current partner or by the last partner. Women are the main victims of domestic abuse, sexual harassment and homicides by partners (AIHW, 2019). One in every five women is sexually assaulted as compared to one in every 20 men (AIHW, 2019). The data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that men are accountable for 83 per cent of all the recorded offences (ABS, 2022). The rate of crime committed by women has been stable but their incarceration rate has increased over time (ABS, 2022). Feminist criminology should also focus on inter-sectionality as indigenous women are about 4 per cent of the population in Queensland but represent 21 per cent of domestic abuse (Douglas & Fitzgerald, 2018). The female experiences of crimes in Australia are impacted by their social identity, religious issues as well as economic status (Douglas & Fitzgerald, 2018).
The reason behind the increase in the incarceration rate of women despite stable crime is related to the sexist operation of the criminal justice system (ABS, 2022). The sexist treatment of women in the criminal justice system is reflected in how women can be held responsible for being victims of sexual assaults and offences. Sexism is also reflected in stigmatising of divorced women or rape victims (Westmarland, 2019). Research has shown that as divorce leads to stigmatising of women, it leads to fewer women getting divorced and rather being in an abusive marriage (Leopold, 2018). This is observed in the case of Hannah Clarke who was manipulated by her husband to stay in the marriage. Intersectionality plays an important role here as well. Research has found that there are high chances that indigenous women can get in trouble despite being a victim as they do fall into the image of victims that have been created in the criminal justice system for women and this leads them to a problem (Douglas & Fitzgerald, 2018).
The role of gender in criminological theory at present time is significant, as at present time women are supposed to behave like a victim by being helpless in order to get proper help or otherwise they can be in problem, like in the case of indigenous women (Douglas & Fitzgerald, 2018). In order to criminalise coercive control effectively, it is important to address the issues that feminist criminology raises like addressing the sexist operation of the criminal justice system, and female experiences of crime. Also, the role of gender in giving justice also should be reduced as it can impact the outcomes.