CONNECTICUT STATE SENATOR ALEX KASSER is sponsoring Jennifer’s Law in honor of Jennifer Dulos in the 2021 Legislative session. The new bill will widen the definition of domestic abuse to include coercive control.
“When women are the victims of abuse, they seek safety for themselves and their children. Often that means staying with the abuser because the danger of leaving is too great,” Sen. Kasser said in a statement about the bill, “But when victims do summon the courage to leave, we have a responsibility to believe and protect them. Too many women have lost their lives just trying to get free. And too many children have become collateral damage in this struggle. It’s time for us to shine a light on DV in all its forms and protect those who need protecting. Women often feel shame and fear when they’re with their abuser and when they leave they are re-traumatized by a society that doesn’t believe them. DV is a public health crisis that’s been exacerbated by the pandemic. And oftentimes the signs are invisible.”
What is Coercive Control?
Coercive control is a pattern of acts used by one person to secure emotional, psychological, and financial dominance over another person. It is a distinct form of psycho-emotional abuse that is used as a tool to frighten the recipient into submission.
How Will Jennifer’s Law Help?
Jennifer’s Law will expand and modernize the definition of domestic violence to include Coercive Control in Connecticut state law.
- The bill will also require coercive control training by professionals with firsthand experience working with domestic abuse survivors.
- It also seeks to give precedence to child safety when determining custody in family court by making domestic violence assessments a priority.
- It seeks to furnish victim-survivors seeking a protective order from the Court with legal support.
- The bill would require judges to recognize victims of domestic abuse and child abuse and provide them with adequate safety and protection.
Jennifer’s Law and Interpersonal Femicide in Connecticut
Jennifer’s Law was created in honor of Jennifer Dulos, a mother from New Canaan, Connecticut, who is missing and believed to have been murdered by her husband while appealing for protection for herself and her children in family court.
According to Connecticut Protective Moms interpersonal femicide sees approximately 28 cases of femicide and filicide committed every year by perpetrators of coercive control.
Some coercive control murders in Connecticut over the last few years include:
So far, two states in the US have expanded the definition of domestic violence to include coercive control: Hawaii and California. Find out more about which states have coercive control legislation.
Further Reading
- How Narcissists Use DARVO To Escape Accountability
- Economic Abuse in Coercive Control: Signs, Impact & Recovery
- Financial Abuse: A Hidden Form of Coercive Control
- Diabetes and Coercive Control: Causes, Risks, and Health Impacts
- The Neuroscience of Narcissistic Abuse–and How to Heal
- The Complete Guide to Narcissistic Abuse Recovery
- Coercive Control & Femicide Research
- National Femicide Rates in the United States
- Coercive Control Bill Signed into Law in Hawaii
- California Passes Coercive Control
- Om’s Law and the Political Economy of Coercive Control
- Hannah’s Law: Coercive Control Criminalized in Queensland
- The Global Coercive Control Legislation Index
- The Global Femicide Legislation Index
References
- Ducey, K. (2021, February 23). Connecticut Senator Introduces Jennifer’s law in honor of New Canaan Mother Jennifer Dulos. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- Kasser, Alex. (2021, January) Senate Bill 77: Jennifer’s Law. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- Connecticut Protective Moms (2021, February 25). Connecticut Senator Alex Kasser and National Domestic Violence Advocates Introduce “Jennifer’s (Dulos) Law” for 2021 Legislative Session. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- Albis, T. (2020, March 12). Opinion: Support from judicial branch for domestic violence bill. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- Meier, Joan S., and Dickson, Sean and O’Sullivan, Chris and Rosen, Leora and Hayes, Jeffrey. Child Custody Outcomes in Cases Involving Parental Alienation and Abuse Allegations (2019). GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 2019-56, GWU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2019-56, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3448062.
Photo by Jackson David.
Manya Wakefield is a narcissistic abuse recovery coach, coercive trauma specialist, and the developer of the Coercive Trauma Recovery Method™ and TENEL™ (Traumatic Exposure to Narcissism in Early Life) — proprietary recovery frameworks built from seven years of direct professional work with survivors of coercive control, narcissistic abuse, and Adult Children of Narcissists. Both frameworks have been reviewed by Dr. Michael Kinsey, PhD, clinical psychologist, New School for Social Research. She is the founder of Narcissistic Abuse Rehab, a global social impact platform launched in 2019 to support survivors through evidence-based recovery frameworks. Manya is the author of Are You In An Emotionally Abusive Relationship (2019), a resource used in domestic violence recovery groups worldwide. Her original research contributions include the Global Coercive Control Legislation Index (2020) — the first systematic index of its kind on the web — and the Global Femicide Legislation Index (2026), comprehensive legal references used by advocates, legal professionals, and policymakers internationally, cited in peer-reviewed publications including the Southern Illinois University Law Journal, Palgrave Macmillan, and the University of Agder. Her expertise has been featured in Newsweek, Elle, Cosmopolitan, HuffPost, Parade, and YourTango. She hosts the Narcissistic Abuse Rehab Podcast, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music. All content on this site reflects Manya's direct professional experience working with survivors of narcissistic abuse and coercive control, her published research, and her ongoing advocacy work.
