(Boston Orange) 麻州一群倖存者和組織今 (15)日推出“一起超越脅迫(TRAC)”聯盟，致力防止家庭暴力，並倡議立法，以更好的處理施虐者嚴重限制受害者安全及自主性的”威脅控制”行為模式。
麻州現行法律（第 209A 章）將家庭虐待的定義限制為身體虐待和強迫性關係，但許多受害者還遭受其他形式的持續、有害的虐待和控制，包括恐嚇、威脅、隔離、技術濫用和 濫用訴訟。 TRAC 呼籲麻州立法者支持並通過兩項重要立法：改善家庭暴力相關保護法案 (H.1547/S.1077)，該法案將把對家庭暴力受害者的保護，擴大到包括各種形式的強制控制，以及與控制和濫用訴訟相關的法案 (H.1399/S.1079)，這將為法院和倖存者提供更多工具來防止旨在控制和恐嚇的訴訟。
麻州法律改革研究所副主任 Jamie Sabino 表示：“僅將家庭暴力視為身體暴力會限制我們集體應對和真正解決虐待根源的能力。” “強制控制——施虐者為混淆、破壞、孤立和剝奪受害者的權力而進行的高度個性化的努力——包括濫用訴訟，既普遍又危險。 例如，根據城市研究所的研究，技術濫用的受害者遭受身體虐待的可能性是其兩倍，遭受心理虐待的可能性是後者的 2.5 倍，遭受性脅迫的可能性是後者的五倍。”
TRAC 的 Carmen Aliber 說：“今天的數字世界，加上昨天的法律，讓濫用者更容易濫用技術。” “TRAC 的目標是提高人們對這些挑戰的認識，並擴大對受害者和倖存者的法律保護。”
“第 209A 章反映了對家庭虐待的過時理解，”Jane Doe Inc 副主任 Hema Sarang-Sieminski 說。 該州法律對虐待的原因和影響採取了更細緻、更全面的觀點，強制控制和虐待訴訟的受害者在生命受到威脅之前可以訴諸法律。 他們感謝 Natalie Higgins 眾議員、Tram Nguyen 眾議員、Natalie Blais 眾議員、Michael Moore 參議員以及共同發起這些重要法案的所有眾議員； 我們敦促他們的同事加入他們的行列，優先通過這項立法。”
6 月
20 日，星期二，TRAC
將在州議會大廈（428
室）與法案的發起人和強制控制專家一起就這兩項法案舉行立法簡報會。
全州指導委員會成員包括：
馬薩諸塞州法律改革研究所 (MLRI)
Jane Doe Inc. (JDI)
伍斯特社區聯繫聯盟
Shaquera 的故事
家庭暴力諮詢和輔導公司。
麻州家庭倡導聯盟
(MFAC)
簡做得很好
New Coalition Forms to Advance Legislation Aimed at Addressing Coercive Control and Domestic Abuse
Together Rising Above Coercion (TRAC) will advocate for legislation in Massachusetts to ensure stronger protections for victims and survivors
Boston, June 15 – Today, a group of survivors and organizations in Massachusetts committed to preventing domestic abuse launched Together Rising Above Coercion (TRAC), a coalition that will advocate for legislation to better address ‘coercive control,’ a pattern of deliberate behavior by an abuser that substantially restricts their victim’s safety and autonomy.
Current law in Massachusetts (Chapter 209A) limits the definition of domestic abuse to physical abuse and coerced sexual relations, but many victims are also subject to other forms of persistent, harmful abuse and control, including intimidation, threats, isolation, technology abuse, and abusive litigation. TRAC is calling on Massachusetts lawmakers to support and pass two important pieces of legislation: An Act to Improve Protections Relative to Domestic Violence (H.1547/S.1077), which would expand domestic abuse protections to include various forms of coercive control, and An Act Relative to Controlling and Abusive Litigation (H.1399/S.1079), which would give courts and survivors more tools to prevent litigation aimed at control and intimidation.
“Thinking about domestic abuse only as physical violence limits our collective ability to respond and truly address the root causes of abuse,” said Jamie Sabino, Deputy Director of Advocacy at Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. “Coercive control – highly individualized efforts by abusers to confuse, undermine, isolate, and disempower their victims – including abusive litigation, is both widespread and dangerous. Victims of technology abuse, for example, are twice as likely to be physically abused, 2.5 times as likely to be psychologically abused, and five times as likely to be sexually coerced, according to research from the Urban Institute.”
“Today’s digital world, with yesterday’s laws, make technology abuse that much easier for abusers,” said Carmen Aliber of TRAC. “TRAC’s goal is to bring greater awareness to these challenges and expand legal protections for victims and survivors.”
“Chapter 209A reflects an outdated understanding of domestic abuse,” said Hema Sarang-Sieminski, Deputy Director of Jane Doe Inc. “By passing An Act to Improve Protections Relative to Domestic Violence and An Act Relative to Controlling and Abusive Litigation, policymakers can ensure that state law takes a more nuanced, comprehensive view of the causes and impact of abuse, and that victims of coercive control and abusive litigation have legal recourse before their lives are endangered. We are grateful to Representative Natalie Higgins, Representative Tram Nguyen, Representative Natalie Blais, Senator Michael Moore, and all the Representatives and Senators who have co-sponsored these important bills; we urge their colleagues to join them and prioritize passage of this legislation.”
On Tuesday, June 20, TRAC will host a legislative briefing at the State House (Room 428) on the two bills, alongside the bills’ sponsors and experts on coercive control.
About TRAC
Made up of individuals and organizations from across Massachusetts, TRAC seeks to expand protections for victims of domestic abuse and their children by securing additional laws and statutes in Massachusetts, including those targeting coercive control, which is the foundation for all forms of domestic abuse, and abusive litigation. We believe that laws must better protect those impacted by domestic abuse who are subjected to ongoing coercion, manipulation, intimidation, and threats.
Serving on the statewide steering committee are:
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI)
Jane Doe Inc. (JDI)
Worcester Community Connections Coalition
Shaquera’s Story Domestic Violence Consulting and Coaching,
Inc.
Mass Family Advocacy Coalition (MFAC)
Jane Does Well
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