A practical guide to coercive control and its relevance to different
areas of law with a particular focus on family law, including why the
law was necessary, the problems facing victims when utilising
legislation, risk assessment of victims, the link between coercive
control and stalking, protective orders available for for victims, legal
aid, and how coercive control is relevant to family court proceedings.
Whilst coercive control is not a new phenomenon, the law prohibiting it
and the use of the phrase is relatively new and it is still very much a
developing area of law and an area which is still often overlooked by
the criminal and family justice system.
This book will help practitioners get up to date with this area of law
and quickly point them to the relevant factors they need to consider
when advising clients and will also provide crucial assistance to
victims navigating the family courts.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rachel Horman is a Solicitor and Head of the Domestic Abuse, Stalking
and Forced Marriage Department at Watson Ramsbottom Ltd. Rachel
regularly advises clients on how to increase the chances of obtaining a
successful prosecution for stalking and domestic abuse as well as
advising in relation to civil options. She was personally involved in
the campaign to change the law to create a criminal offence of coercive
control or emotional abuse which came into force in December 2015 and
continues to be involved in advising the police and government around
other problems with the current law in relation to stalking and domestic
abuse.
Rachel regularly represents clients with regard to coercive control
within the family courts. She has practiced in the area of domestic
abuse and stalking for over 20 years and heads a department dealing with
these issues. She is the Chair of Paladin - the National Stalking
Advocacy Service and is a regular media commentator on coercive control
and stalking including BBC Breakfast, BBC News, Sky News and Radio 4 and
is considered to be one of the leading subject matter experts in this
area.
Rachel advises several prime time TV shows regarding scripts dealing
with stalking and coercive control. She has won several awards for her
work in these areas including the Jordans Family Law Partner of the Year
and Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year as well as being highly commended by
the Law Society in the Female Lawyer of the Year Category and
shortlisted for the Emma Humphries Memorial Prize for her work in
assisting victims of domestic abuse.
Rachel also writes a popular blog at rachelhorman.co.uk where she
comments on new developments or gaps in the law around Domestic Abuse,
Stalking and Honour Based Violence.
