Normalisation of coercive control a wake-up call, says campaigner

Mary Crilly, CEO of the Sexual Violence Centre Cork said coercive control in young relationships is deeply concerning.

Sexual Violence Centre Cork has said grim findings from Women's Aid about the normalisation of coercive control in young relationships should be a "wake-up call".

The group was speaking after the publication of the report this week which found that over 90% of 20,000 young people surveyed had been threatened with the release of intimate images by their partners during an argument.

Sexual pressure, arguments and physical abuse were also found to be prevalent, with 82% of respondents to the online survey saying that they had been hit by their partner before and were afraid of it happening again.

Director of Sexual Violence Centre Cork, Mary Crilly, said that the report raised a number of concerning issues with young relationships.

'It makes me very angry'

Speaking to RedFM News, she said: “I’m not surprised. It makes me very angry, but it shows that we need to work with young people more directly, not vaguely as we are doing. My fear about it is, this is all about young people — somebody might say ‘why did she give the image off’ — that kind of victim-blaming.” 

Ms Crilly noted that in some cases, the victim would be “badgered” by their partners to send a picture and did so so they wouldn’t be “left out.”

"When people are having relationships like this as kind of teenagers, this normalises it, so these young girls really think just as how people behave, this is okay, that it’s okay for 92% threatened with the images, it’s okay for 82% to hit them at least once and it’s okay for 69% to force them to for some sexual activity that they’ve no interest in, and that’s very concerning.” 

Laws brought in in 2018 under the Domestic Violence Act mean that individuals who are suffering abuse in any intimate relationship are able to apply for safety orders.

Ms Crilly, who founded the centre in 1983 as the Cork Rape Crisis Centre, continued: “This is happening to girls but the boys are feeling entitled to do this. So we need to talk to both, and look at why do they think they’re entitled to this.” 

Ms Crilly said the report was a “wake-up call for everyone” saying that the data is now out in the open.

She added: “It’s about giving the girls the confidence to say ‘I don’t need this in my life, I’m better than this.’” 

Respondents told Women’s Aid of the “devastating effects” that the abuse had on them that included anxiety, depression and isolation.