Human trafficking and coercive control: representations in media and challenges in legislation

In 2015, two key pieces of legislation were introduced into UK law concerning fundamental issues of control and freedom. Section 76 of the Serious Crime Act (England and Wales) criminalised coercive control within domestic abuse/intimate partner violence, leading to a major shift in understanding of how coercion is used in intimate partner relationships to control behaviour and the impact of this experience on victims. The Modern Slavery Act was implemented in recognition of the growing problem of human trafficking and modern-day slavery in the UK. Within this policy, coercion is recognised as one of the tools used in the recruitment and control of victims. Drawing from these two pieces of legislation, this chapter highlights commonalities of experience of psychological coercion in different situations of control and the long-term impact on victims mental and physical health. The methodology utilised within this chapter includes a search of news media stories in Lexis Library alongside a discussion of representations in a selection of popular cultural artefacts, including British soap operas, film and other screen representations to demonstrate how these concepts are often (mis)-represented in the media, although some recent changes have been noted. This chapter will first provide a frame of reference through a discussion of legislation and impacts on survivors, followed by an examination of how this issue is represented in the media. The chapter concludes by considering critiques of coercive control legislation which is not adequately conceptualised in practice and may be failing women in intimate partner violence cases within the criminal justice system. Consequently, it cautions against the use of the concept in cases of modern slavery and human trafficking.