On October 1 and 2, 2021 experts from law, medicine, academia, and media – social workers, psychologists, criminologists, sociologists, researchers, survivors, advocates and activists – will gather for the first International Coercive Control Conference to be held virtually via Zoom.
Coercive control is a brand new concept to some, but it is a familiar reality for too many others. If your work or life touches domestic abuse, family court, the criminal justice system, human trafficking, cults, gangs, or the cultural subjugation of women, there will be sessions that explore critical areas in which coercive control plays a major role in each.
While governments and NGOs work diligently worldwide to reduce gendered violence, toxic masculinity and male domination continues unabated across all cultures in public and private.
Dr. Evan Stark says it best, “They do it because they can. We still live in a society where people can get away with coercing and controlling another human being, and they can do that in a public arena. With the knowledge of police, with the knowledge of judges, in the presence of doctors and social workers, child welfare workers, largely without sanction.”
World renowned industry expert Dr. Stark, author of Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women In Personal Life, will kick-off the two-day virtual conference with a Keynote address that gives an overview of Coercive Control as a Gendered Liberty Crime.
The conference will feature three distinct tracks:
Track One: “Defining Abuse as Coercive Control,” features speakers such as journalist and best-selling author of See What You Made Me Do, Jess Hill; researcher and author of Invisible Chains, Dr. Lisa Fontes, and many more– in sessions that address coercive control in family court, its impact on children, and its role in domestic abuse.
Track Two: “Coercive Control and Its Traumatic Impact”– is a deeper dive into the lived experiences of coercive control in individual, group, and public contexts. Two U.S. State Senators –Susan Rubio (D-CA) and Alex Kasser, formerly of Connecticut– will address how they created new domestic violence laws in their states to include coercive control.
Track Three: “Solutions for Systems Change”– will go broad and global with sessions that highlight innovative initiatives and new thinking that positively impact the world.
For a complete list of speakers and sessions and to register for the conference, visit here:
About The International Coercive Control Conference
The conference is a first step towards bringing together those working on the front lines advocating for change, modernizing legislation, conducting cutting-edge research, and changing the narrative to make visible the patriarchal nature of abuse and coercive control.
About the Engendered Collective
The Engendered Collective is a community of survivors, advocates, and feminists that engage in knowledge-building, collective care, healing, and advocacy to increase accountability for sex-based abuse, exploitation, and violence.