Man jailed for murdering partner weeks after she had brain surgery

Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Caitlin O’Brien, whose life was ended by her partner of ten years in June last year.

He had previously been convicted for assaulting her in 2010.  

Yesterday, the man was sentenced to 22 years’ jail and will be eligible for parole after serving 16 years…

During the sentencing process, a forensic psychologist told the court that “throughout most of the relationship, until the final few years, he appears to have used various coercive behaviours, including violence, threats of violence, and threats of suicide”.

Coercive behaviour and control is an all too familiar pattern in many cases of domestic violence cases, where the victim is ultimately killed.

Evidence demonstrates that these perpetrators are almost always males.

For instance, a review of domestic violence related homicides in NSW found that in 99% of cases, the relationship was characterized by male abuser’s use of coercive controlling behaviours towards the victim.

In the UK, Professor Evan Stark, a forensic social worker and renowned expert and author on Coercive control played a major role in the consultation process that led to the drafting of such laws in the UK.  In his research he found that 60-80 percent of women who sought help for abuse had experienced  a “level of control”  in their relationships which was a predictor of severe and fatal violence. 

For a brief overview of some of Stark’s work , visit ➡ https://bit.ly/2B12yu8

It may be timely for Australia to consider the criminalisation of coercive control as an area of domestic and family violence reform. 

Read The Age’s feature on this heartbreaking story here ➡ https://bit.ly/2Ux6vO6