Faith, Law, and Technology: Multi-Dimensional Approaches to Identifying Coercive Control (Session 7)

Faith, Law, and Technology: Multi-Dimensional Approaches to Identifying Coercive Control (Session 7)

This session examines three distinct but interconnected contexts where coercive control operates: international custody disputes, religious marriage relationships, and law enforcement response. Leighann Burns addresses the urgent need to stop penalizing protective mothers under the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, examining how international custody law is weaponized against survivors fleeing across borders with their children and advocating for reforms that recognize coercive control in these proceedings. Bethany Jantzi explores how religious headship doctrine becomes coercive control in evangelical marriage, revealing how faith teachings about marriage, submission, and gender roles can be twisted to justify and enable systematic control within intimate relationships. Lauri Jensen-Campbell introduces the TXADA tool for identifying the dominant aggressor through the lens of coercive control in domestic violence incidents, demonstrating how law enforcement can use this evidence-based assessment to avoid arresting victims and instead identify the person who is truly exercising control in the relationship. These presentations illustrate how coercive control manifests across religious, legal, and law enforcement contexts, requiring specialized understanding and tools for effective identification and response.