A judge said Lauren Smith was too “strong and capable” to be affected by the behaviour of her ex-boyfriend.
For three years, it has been a crime to control someone close to you in your life. When the legislation was passed in December 2015, professionals and survivors hoped that the criminal justice system finally understood the impact and seriousness of this kind of behaviour. Anyone who has been a victim of abuse, or seen it first hand, knows power and control are at the heart of it. But to see it written down in law was a positive step to taking it seriously and, crucially, holding the perpetrator to account.
Three years later, we see once again that legislation alone is not the answer. A recent court case considered the experience of Lauren Smith, whose ex-boyfriend spat in her face and taught her one-year-old son to call her a “slag” and a “slut”. But in her ruling, judge Helen Cousins described Lauren Smith, as too “strong and capable” to be affected by the behaviour of the perpetrator, despite the court being satisfied that control and coercion did occur within the relationship. “There’s no doubt the victim is a strong and capable woman, whose evidence was truthful. She has since successfully removed herself from the harmful situation,” Cousins said. “It is to her credit that I cannot find the defendant’s behaviour had a serious effect on her in the context of the guidelines for this offence.”
These comments show a worrying misunderstanding of the dynamics of domestic abuse.
Continue reading and please try to keep you temper in check!
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