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Coercive control will become a criminal offense in Queensland after landmark laws prompted by the deaths of Hannah Clarke and her children were passed in parliament.
Sue and Lloyd Clarke, who lost their daughter and grandchildren in a horrific firebomb attack at the hands of Hannah’s ex-husband Rowan Baxter in February 2020, said the changes were a “powerful” step to empower women .
Her daughter’s death sparked widespread grief and wider commentary about the effectiveness of frontline services in tackling domestic, family and sexual violence (DFS) as well as coercive control.
Hannah Clarke (pictured left) and the three children who lost their lives in a firebomb attack by her ex-husband Rowan Baxter (pictured center right)
Sue Clarke became emotional as she spoke about how Hannah’s legacy would “inspire” other states to empower and protect women and children.
“On behalf of Hannah, Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey, we welcome Queensland to make the pursuit of justice against coercive control possible,” he said.
“We will continue to talk until coercive control is criminalized across Australia.”
Unlike more overt forms of domestic violence, coercive control involves patterns of behavior that include emotional, psychological, and economic abuse, along with isolation, intimidation, sexual coercion, and cyberbullying.
A coroner’s inquest into the deaths of Hannah and her children found that Baxter displayed controlling and abusive behavior towards his wife.
Some of these included controlling what she wore and who she could see, demanding sex every night and berating her body image, as well as assaulting and stalking her after their separation.
Hannah’s parents, Sue and Lloyd Clarke, have waged a tireless campaign to ’empower women’ with a change in the law.
The photo shows the site of the horrific firebomb attack.
On Wednesday, parliament passed landmark reforms to the Criminal Code (Coercive Control and Affirmative Consent) and the Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023, known colloquially as ‘Hannah’s law’, relating to emergency services responses. front line to DFS violence.
The Clarkes, along with the family of Allison Baden-Clay in 2012, who was murdered by her husband Gerard, and members of the state’s Women’s Justice and Safety Task Force, were the main drivers of the legislative changes.
“The state government has listened to the lived experience of victims and survivors,” Clarke said after the laws were passed.