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[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The Domestic Violence Act, which came into force across the Republic of Ireland on 2 January, includes coercive control among its list of offences.
“For too long, society has thought of domestic violence primarily as physical abuse,” said justice minister Charlie Flanagan.
“Coercive control recognises the effect of non-violent control and psychological abuse in a relationship can be as harmful to victims as physical abuse because it is an abuse of the unique trust associated with an intimate relationship.”
Other measures in the act include access to court protection orders to those who were in intimate relationships, but not cohabiting; a victim having the right to be accompanied to court by a family member, friend or support worker; and a victim having the right to give evidence by live television link.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
