Centacare representatives joined Sunshine Coast residents and advocates to march with victim-survivors of domestic and family violence. Source: The Catholic Leader.
Victim-survivor Delaney Starling spoke at the May 6 march in Maroochydore and shared her personal experience of coercive control.
Coercive control’s danger laid in its invisibility, she said.
“It’s really subtle and confusing,” she said, explaining that it often involved small patterns of behaviour that, over time, stripped a person of their independence and autonomy.
“The whole point is to take away your independence and they become your whole world basically,” she said.
She described the exhausting process of “walking on eggshells” and the “love bombing” that makes a victim crave an abuser’s affection even as they were being systematically isolated from their support systems.
Centacare Family and Relationship Services area manager Adam Beck also marched alongside the community.
He said that the community’s understanding of domestic violence must evolve.
“Non-physical forms of domestic violence are just as, if not more impactful, than physical violence,” Mr Beck said.
He pointed out that for many survivors, the act of leaving was only the first step in a gruelling journey.
“People are essentially starting from scratch,” he said.
He said women and children often fled with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.
He highlighted a critical gap in support, noting that while government funding covered frontline services, there was a desperate need for additional funds to purchase practical items like school shoes, uniforms and clothes for job interviews.
“Recovery is something that people often don’t think about,” Mr Beck said, stating that rebuilding a life could take months or often years.
The march and vigil was a chance to share information with the public on how to support loved ones trapped in these dynamics.
Mr Beck encouraged anyone experiencing domestic and family violence to reach out to a trusted person or a professional service, noting that having a support person can make the “daunting” first step toward safety much easier.
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Sunshine Coast community and Centacare march to break the silence on coercive control (By Joe Higgins, The Catholic Leader)
