Irish Examiner view: Coercive control is as old as time — its perpetrators must be called out
One landmark analysis points out that abuse does not consist of separate physical acts but rather a systematic strategy of domination, isolation, and deprivation. Stock picture: Alamy
Although it is a behaviour as old as time, it is only in recent years — fewer than 20 — that the disquieting phrase “coercive control” has entered the contemporary lexicon.
It appears to have made its bow in a 2007 book by the American sociologist and academic Evan Stark which has gained currency in Western universities over the past two decades.
He identified domestic abuse, not as separate physical acts but a systematic strategy of domination, isolation, and deprivation. And a particularly gruelling account of it in operation over an 18-month period was presented to Cork Circuit Court this week.
Robert Fedyna was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, with the last six months suspended, by Judge Dermot Sheehan after his partner’s ordeal was described to the court by Sergeant Joseph Lee.
Fedyna, described as last being resident in West Cork, checked the odometer on her car to keep tabs on how far she was travelling. When he forbade her to use the vehicle, she got up at 4am to walk 16km to work, which took her four and a half hours.
When she returned home from a Christmas party without her door key, he made her lie down on the mat outside the house in the cold and beg “like a dog” to be allowed in. Fedyna threw her pet rabbit against a wall “to see if it could fly” and broke its legs.
His former partner’s wages were taken immediately and she was provided with a meagre allowance to cover essentials. Her phone was confiscated, wrapped in tinfoil, and buried in the garden. Fedyna schemed to alienate her from her friends.
In an impact statement read into court, his victim said:
"It’s because of you that every knock on the door, every doorbell from an unexpected visitor causes fear. It’s because of you that I don’t answer calls from unknown numbers. It’s because of you that I constantly turn around when someone follows me in the street.”
In a separate case in Wexford, a man who moved into his partner’s home within weeks of first meeting her and forced her younger brother to move out was jailed for two years for coercively controlling the woman, threats to kill her, and assault.
The 24-year-old man also threatened to publish intimate images of the then-20-year-old woman and at one point, when she managed to move out of the house eight months later, he sent her almost 5,000 text messages over a four-day period.
The victim told the court he controlled her phone and who she texted. She was not allowed to text without permission, and he followed her. She said she had to have her location on at all times. “One day he thrashed my bedroom after he thought he had seen me with a guy,” she said.
The Government is in the process of establishing a domestic violence register.
Jennie’s Law will allow those convicted of domestic violence against a partner or former partner, to be publicly named on a register of judgements. The law has been named in honour of Jennifer Poole, who was murdered by her ex partner Gavin Murphy in 2021.
There have been calls to extend the register to include all forms of domestic abuse, including coercive control.
Sinn Féin MEP for Ireland South, Kathleen Funchion, who is one of those calling for the change, said recently: “As a society, we need to recognise and understand that not all abuse is physical. Coercive control, emotional manipulation, and isolation are equally damaging, and must be treated with the seriousness they deserve.”
• If you are affected by any of the issues raised here, please click here for a list of support services.
The floundering which has accompanied this week’s UK budget is a welcome reminder of what it looks like to lose control of the levers of an economy. And a useful memory jogger that we can’t stand aloof from what happens next door, particularly with the future of the North moving up the political agenda.
To some extent our neighbours provide a valuable petri dish in which their experiments in social and taxation policy can develop while the Republic watches on with benevolent disinterest.
Charging per mile for electric vehicles? Let’s see how that plays out. Surcharges on homes above a certain value? That has political appeal. Milkshake tax? Sounds like a harmless gimmick dressed up as a noble cause. Tired of the highest tax burden since the Second World War? Give us “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”. Well, perhaps not this last one.
Among the smorgasbord of decisions by British chancellor Rachel Reeves is her move to increase taxes on gambling companies, and in particular the burgeoning popularity of remote gaming via online casinos.
From next April, there will be an increase in remote gaming duty from 21% to 40% which is expected to raise more than €1.25bn. The Dublin-based betting giant Flutter has warned that the changes could provide a jackpot for black market operators but one of the founders of Paddy Power, Stewart Kenny, has welcomed the decision. Mr Kenny, who is something of a “Daniel come to judgement” in these matters, said the change was recognition that more addictive forms of gambling should be taxed at a higher rate and that he would be “amazed” if Ireland did not raise its duty on online casinos to “at least level with the UK” in Budget 2027.
Last month, Mr Kenny appeared before British MPs and spoke of “huge regrets” about his role in the online gambling boom while calling for higher taxes on bookies to discourage predatory behaviour.
Mr Kenny said in October: “When you open an account to have a bet on the next general election or Manchester United to win the Premiership, within 24 hours they send you free spins in the casino to the online slots. This is taking somebody from the least addictive product to the most addictive product.”
Betting companies lobbied hard with the giant Betfred claiming the move would force it to shut all 1,287 of its shops in the UK and trigger 7,500 job losses. EY research commissioned by the Betting and Gaming Council warned the tax hike could wipe €3.5bn off the UK economy and threaten up to 40,000 jobs.
The UK market is of major interest to Irish companies with Boylesports undertaking a €110m expansion. Flutter expects their international revenues to grow to around €15bn this year.
All be watching the consequences of this week’s decisions. If they are marginal or neutral it’s a fair bet that Ireland will be following suit within 12 months from now.
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