Over the past few years, a number of states have moved to include coercive control as a basis for protection from abuse. Coercive controlling abuse is a pattern of conduct that has the purpose or effect of substantially restricting the other parent's safety or autonomy through intimidation, implicit or explicit threats, or by compelling compliance. From monitoring and surveilling of daily personal activities to threatening to call DCF or immigration authorities as a tool of control, survivors and their advocates know that at the heart of intimate partner abuse is power and control. Learn about the complex tactics of coercive control which include isolation, manipulation, intimidation, and financial, legal, physical, and sexual abuse.
Join us for an informative panel of experts discussing how this issue impacts survivors in Massachusetts. We will discuss how Massachusetts can improve protections for survivors by joining other states (such as CT and CA) in updating laws by adding coercive control. This legislative session, Jane Doe Inc., Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and dozens of partners have joined together to advocate for a bill that would recognize coercive control as a basis for 209A (Restraining Order) protection.
This panel will feature Invisible Chains: Overcoming Coercive Control in Your Intimate Relationship author Dr. Lisa Fontes, gender expert Dr. Mei-Ling Ellerman, MLRI Attorney Jamie Sabino and will be moderated by JDI's Policy Director Hema Sarang-Sieminski, Esq.
Lisa A. Fontes, PhD, is an internationally known expert on intimate partner abuse, and sexual violence. As a researcher, activist, expert witness, and author, she works to protect the most vulnerable people from violence. Her most recent book is: Invisible Chains: Overcoming Coercive Control in Your Intimate Relationship. Dr. Fontes is a Senior Lecturer II at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies.
Dr. Mei-Ling Ellerman is a gender expert affiliated with Brandeis University, whose work focuses on domestic abuse and coercive control. The Domestic Abuse Research & Advocacy Project gathers data on the experiences of survivors of color and their interactions with the justice system. She collaborates with MLRI, Casa Myrna, and the Asian Task Force against Domestic Violence, to conduct research and apply findings to improve services, raise awareness, and advocate for reform.
Jamie Sabino is the Deputy Director of Advocacy and the Managing Attorney of the Civil Legal Needs for Victims of Crime Initiative (CLAVC) at MLRI. In addition she serves as lead advocate for the Domestic Violence Legal Assistance Project (DVLAP) including facilitating the Family Law Task Force, a statewide group of legal services family law attorneys, attorneys in domestic violence service provider agencies and attorneys involved in family law pro bono programs and law school clinics. Prior to this position Ms. Sabino served for over 13 years as the VAWA STOP Grant Coordinator for the Massachusetts Trial Court, were she worked at a policy level on how the Trial Court handled cases involving domestic violence and sexual assault.
Hema Sarang-Sieminskiis the Policy Director of Jane Doe Inc. (MA Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence. Attorney Sarang-Sieminski works closely with JDI members and numerous partnerships and collaborations to assess and improve how policies and systems respond to survivors and their communities across the state. Hema supports JDI members in advocating for funding and legislative and system change impacting survivors. She has over twenty years of experience representing survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence in immigration and other civil matters.
26 сен 2024
