A multimillion-dollar coercive control campaign has been launched by the Western Australian government in a bid to raise awareness about domestic violence.
The two-year ad campaign aims to educate victim-survivors, their family members and even perpetrators on the signs of abuse.
DV survivor Sheree Schonian is backing the $5 million advertising blitz.
At just 16 years old, Schonian became trapped in a domestic violence relationship.
“He threatened to throw acid on my face at one time if I ever wanted to leave him, threatened to hurt my family,” she said.
After more than a decade she finally managed to escape but said the signs of coercive control weren’t always obvious.
“I experienced all forms of family and domestic violence. I experienced physical, sexual, emotional and financial abuse,” she said.
The ads – to be aired on radio, television and social media – feature the tagline: “It doesn’t have to be physical. Coercive control is family and domestic violence.”
The campaign aims to highlight how actions such as tracking, isolating, intimidation and gaslighting can create a sense of fear.
Although the state is yet to criminalise coercive control like NSW and Queensland, Premier Roger Cook said the government remained committed to tightening legislation.
“Coercive control is tracking your partner, it’s isolating them from friends and family it’s taking control of their finances and gaslighting,” Cook said.
