"Living in the Darkness": Technology-Facilitated Coercive Control, Disenfranchised Grief, and Institutional Betrayal. (April 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Woodlock, Delanie; Salter, Michael; Dragiewicz, Molly; Harris, Bridget
• Is Part Of: Violence against women. Volume 29:Number 5(2023)
• Page Start: 987
• Page End: 1004
• Publication Date: 2023-04
• Subjects: technology -- coercive control -- domestic violence -- grief -- institutional betrayal; Abused women -- Periodicals; Women -- Crimes against -- Periodicals; Violent crimes -- Periodicals; Femmes victimes de violence -- Périodiques; Femmes, Crimes contre les -- Périodiques; Crimes violents -- Périodiques; 362.8292
• DOI: 10.1177/10778012221114920
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1077-8012

Abstract

This article draws on interviews with 20 Australian women subjected to technology-facilitated coercive control (TFCC), foregrounding their accounts of grief and institutional betrayal. Findings show that while the harms of TFCC were significant, survivors' experiences were often minimized and dismissed by justice institutions. Women experienced grief due to abuse and separation from partners who had betrayed them. This loss was compounded when seeking help. We propose that disenfranchised grief is an underexplored response to domestic violence and institutional betrayal as well as a potential intervention site, particularly in relation to technology-facilitated abuse.