TRAC Coalition Applauds Legislators for Passing Bill to Expand Definition of Domestic Abuse
The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute applauds the Massachusetts’ Legislature for approving legislation to protect survivors of domestic abuse. An Act to Prevent Abuse and Exploitation expands the definition of domestic abuse to include coercive control, the foundation of all forms of abuse. Coercive control is a pattern of deliberate behavior used by an abuser to restrict their victim’s safety and autonomy. Massachusetts now becomes the seventh state in the nation to recognize coercive control as a harmful form of domestic abuse. The law also aligns Massachusetts with 48 other states who have already outlawed revenge porn, a form of coercive control. Prior law in Massachusetts limited the definition of domestic violence to physical and sexual assault or fear of imminent serious physical harm.