The dynamics of coercive control and its impact on children

About this event

The Scottish Government’s understanding of domestic abuse frames it as a course of coercively controlling behaviour in which a perpetrator uses a range of tactics with or without physical violence to dominate a partner or ex-partner. Children are understood as experiencing the abuse in their own right, not simply as a witness, which should shape how we support them.

This full-day seminar will explore the dynamics of coercive control, children’s experiences and centring children’s voices in our responses.

Key learning:

• Domestic abuse as a course of coercively controlling behaviour.
• Recognising the tools used by perpetrators to create compliance in victims
• The dynamics of domestic abuse in a family setting and its impact on mothering, fathering, and the parent-child relationship
• The roles children may play in a family where domestic abuse occurs, defining children as more than ‘witness to’ abuse
• Impact of court-ordered contact processes on children with reference to best practice in listening to children and enabling their voices to be heard.

Facilitator Bio

Roseanna Macdonald is Children and Young People’s Policy Worker for Scottish Women’s Aid. Prior to this she worked at the Scottish Youth Parliament, supporting young people to express their views to decision-makers and advocating for the meaningful participation of children and young people in the development of policy affecting them. She has worked in a variety of roles in Scotland, the Netherlands and Thailand focusing on women’s and children’s rights, participation and community empowerment.