When we look at coercive control as a behavioural pattern in which various violent and non-violent strategies are used to deprive the victim of her freedom, the research increasingly shows us that when a man adopts this pattern of behaviour when he is in a couple relationship with a woman, it is generally not going to stop when they separate. This behavioural pattern will sometimes change or be expressed differently, but it will generally continue during the separation process and after the separation. Not only will it not stop when they separate, but we are well aware that the period surrounding the separation and the period following the separation present particular problems. In fact, that is the period when women and children are at highest risk of being victims of serious violence or even of being killed by a spouse whose behaviour is violent and controlling. Spousal violence absolutely has to be understood in this context.
Second, policy has to be based on this. As I said earlier, there are inconsistencies among the systems. For example, a man may be convicted in criminal court of assault or forcible confinement, but after the separation, when the woman has to deal with custody or access issues, or with a report to youth protection, the situation will be perceived at the outset as a severe separation-related dispute. The people involved, the lawyers and judges, will say that given that the parents are separated, we should no longer be talking about spousal violence.
We really have to understand spousal violence in a longitudinal context and understand that it continues after separation.