Despite decades of effort and billions of dollars spent every year to end coercion and abuse in its many forms, society is still facing growing numbers of victims. The invisible nature of coercive control combined with our system’s failure to identify, intervene and prevent it, have led to ineffective solutions and countless lives devastated and/or lost. Although complex and nuanced, the elements of coercive control can be taught, and systems can be trained to more effectively detect, intervene in and prevent it.
Kate Amber, cult and domestic abuse survivor, certified in Executive Leadership in Violence and Abuse Prevention, ADA Advocacy and The Psychology of Coercive Control, is the Founder/CEO of End Coercive Control USA (ECCUSA). Through ECCUSA, Kate is using her story to raise awareness and educate professionals on coercive control. ECCUSA’s PsychoSocial Quicksand Model™ identifies coercive control in the perpetrator’s behavior and within system policies and practices that harm adult and child victims. ECCUSA collaborates with survivors, organizations and professionals to create innovative solutions that transform traumatizing policies and practices into successful, healing ones, making survivors, employees and organizations stronger and healthier in the process.
Through personal stories and engaging images, this presentation illuminates the distortions that are holding us back from ending coercive control, and simplifies the strategy and tactics coercive controllers use, so that we can identify it, hold perpetrators accountable, and protect victims now and in the future. The PsychoSocial Quicksand Model™ offers real solutions for addressing systemic failures in a way that offers collective societal hope and transformation.
Founder/CEO, End Coercive Control USA
Kate Amber is a cult, kidnapping, sexual assault, trafficking and adult and child survivor of domestic abuse. She is certified in Executive Leadership by the University of Pennsylvania's Ortner Center of Violence and Abuse Prevention. She is also a certified in The Psychology of Coercive Control by The University of Salford and is a Certified ADA Advocate in the US. Kate founded End Coercive Control USA (ECCUSA) to help educate and transform the systems designed to assist victim/survivors of coercive control, with the mission of returning to them their dignity, agency and freedom. Kate is a speaker, consultant, trainer, writer and expert witness on domestic abuse, extremist groups and coercive control.
Kate Amber
Founder/CEO
Kate Amber is a cult, kidnapping, sexual assault, trafficking and adult and child survivor of domestic abuse. She is certified in Executive Leadership by the University of Pennsylvania's Ortner Center of Violence and Abuse Prevention. She is also a certified in The Psychology of Coercive Control by The University of Salford and is a Certified ADA Advocate in the US. Kate founded End Coercive Control USA (ECCUSA) to help educate and transform the systems designed to assist victim/survivors of coercive control, with the mission of returning to them their dignity, agency and freedom. Kate is a speaker, consultant, trainer, writer and expert witness on domestic abuse, extremist groups and coercive control.
Friday, June 24th
11:00 AM-11:50 AM (Panel Part 1) 12:00 pm-12:50 PM (Panel Part 2)
The language and understanding of coercive control has begun to shift how we view and understand experiences of domestic abuse, deepening our capacity to understand the long term impacts of this crime often perpetrated against women and girls. Little research however, has been done into the intersections of coercive control and sexual exploitation/trafficking. This presentation will provide an overview of a research project completed by Sagesse in partnership with the University of Salford exploring how coercive control and experiences of sexual exploitation link together to impact victims of crime. This project explored the impacts of sexual exploitation within practice, policy and legislation in multiple jurisdictions including Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and the Netherlands. This presentation will provide an overview of the linkages between practice, policy, legislation and personal lived experience of sexual exploitation and coercive control. Pulling from experiences of Sagesse participants, the presentation will review the push and pull factors related to individuals engagement in sex work/exploitation. We will discuss the themes from participants connecting their experiences to coercive control and the experience of the loss of personal agency and the implications of that loss on their emotional and physical liberty. Superordinate themes that were also identified and will be discussed in this presentation included the journey of sex work, wellbeing, coercive control, interventions and services, protection, and enforcement, and lastly, the intersections of COVID 19 and sex work. Recommendations for practice and policy with a lens for understanding coercive control and its impact on sex work and sexual exploitation. This presentation will include a discussion to understand how to implement suggested adjustments, practice necessities and create more space for survivor voices within prevention, prosecution and protection components of this complex issue.
Director of Innovation and Programs
Sagesse Domestic Violence Prevention Society
Carrie McManus breaks down barriers and embraces change as the Director of Innovation and Programs at Sagesse. Her natural curiosity and passion for eradicating domestic violence allow her to ask “what if” when developing initiatives that change long-standing beliefs and empower individuals, organizations and communities to disrupt the structure of domestic violence. Through Carrie’s leadership, Sagesse has grown beyond its grassroots foundation. She has supported the development of new programs and initiatives that take a closer look at the unique needs of rural and remote survivors of domestic violence and build the capacity of friends and family to recognize and respond to individuals experiencing domestic violence in their communities. In addition to creating programs to meet diverse needs, Carrie has created a contemporary way of thinking about revolutionizing the way Sagesse and other organizations approach program design, which has helped secure Sagesse as a well-respected domestic violence agency across Alberta and around the world. Her innovative approach to service delivery, especially when tackling a difficult topic such as domestic violence, has caught the attention of individuals and organizations beyond Alberta’s borders. She continuously advocates for research, development, and innovation in the non-profit sector, and works closely with organizations in a variety of industries to use Sagesse’s organizational design ideas to uncover growth opportunities, shift paradigms and establish new ways of working. With this work in mind, Carrie spearheaded the creation of ByDesign, a social enterprise dedicated to stimulating real change by challenging the status-quo and breaking down the barriers to allow organizations in any sector to reach their full potential by shifting their thinking to an innovation-based model. Carrie has over 20 years experience in strategic and program development, small business management, facilitation and education. She started her social work career with Mount Royal University’s Stepping Up program, a peer led domestic violence program in Calgary, Carrie then transitioned into her role with Sagesse. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Dalhousie University in Halifax and a Diploma of Social Work from Mount Royal University in Calgary.
Chief Executive Officer
Sagesse Domestic Violence Prevention Society
As the CEO of Sagesse, an organization committed to empowering individuals, organizations and communities to disrupt structures of abuse, Andrea Silverstone works tirelessly to address domestic and sexual abuse across Alberta, Canada. Andrea is a Registered Social Worker and Mediator with a background in Judaic/Talmudic Law, having attended Lindenbaum College in Jerusalem and York University in Toronto. She is currently completing a Masters in the psychology of coercive control from the University of Salford in England. She has combined this educational background with a desire to stop abuse before it begins to create program models and structural policy that elevates untold experiences of abuse. Her work has made large impacts in Alberta including implementing a primary prevention initiative to address domestic and sexual abuse across Alberta, playing an instrumental role in supporting the Alberta Government to bring the Domestic Violence Disclosure Act to Alberta, and testifying before the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights about the need for changes to the criminal code to include coercive control.
Program Leader Masters in Psychology of Coercive Control
University of Salford
Rod Dubrow-Marshall, PhD, MBPsS, is a Professor of Psychology and is a Programme Leader (MSc Psychology of Coercive Control) in the Directorate of Psychology and Public Health and is Visiting Fellow in the Criminal Justice Hub and Connected Lives, Diverse Realities Research Group, in the School of Health and Society at the University of Salford, UK. Rod is a Social Psychologist who has been researching the psychology and aetiology of undue influence and cults or extremist groups for over twenty years, and he has developed the Totalistic Identity Theory as an evidence-based theory to explain and tackle ideological extremism and ideologically driven violence. He is also an active researcher in a variety of other areas including organizational behaviour and healthiness, the social psychology of identity and prejudice, and public policy and education. A graduate member of the British Psychological Society, Rod is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Cultic Studies Association and is also Chair of the ICSA Research Committee and Network and he is co-Editor of the International Journal of Cultic Studies (since its inception in 2010). In 2006, he was awarded The Herbert L. Rosedale Award, jointly with Dr. Paul Martin, for their psychological research on undue influence. Rod co-founded the Re-Entry Therapy Information and Referral Network (RETIRN) UK in 2004 with Dr Linda Dubrow-Marshall, where he serves as a consultant in helping individuals and families who have been adversely affected by destructive or damaging cults and other extremist and high demand/manipulative groups or relationships. He operates out of offices in Pontypridd, Wales and Buxton, Derbyshire, UK (please also see www.retirn.com). Rod has also served on more than a dozen Governing Boards of Schools, Colleges and Universities over the last two decades and he is currently a governor and director of the Akaal Primary School in Derby and is also a longstanding member of the Board of the homelessness charity the Wallich (headquartered in Cardiff, Wales). In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the Buxton International Festival and is Chair of the Board of the Preston Guild Link charity (in Lancashire, UK) which is fundraising for the next Preston Guild cultural festival in 2032! Rod is also an experienced senior leader and manager in higher education having served for 15 years in the roles of Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Derby, Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and as Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of South Wales and Dean of Applied Social Sciences and Humanities at Buckinghamshire New University. [IJCS Editors; Research Network; Directors]
Head of Psychology
The University of Salford
Linda Dubrow-Marshall, PhD, Reg. MBACP (Accred.), is Chair of the Mental Health Committee for ICSA, Research Co-editor of ICSA Today, and a member of the Research Network for ICSA. She is a co-founder of RETIRN (please also see www.retirn.com), a private practice that provides services to individuals and families who have been affected by cultic influence and abusive relationships. Linda has developed a new MSc Psychology of Coercive Control program at the University of Salford and is leading the program with Dr. Rod Dubrow-Marshall. She is also the Programme Leader of the MSc Applied Psychology (Therapies) Program at the University of Salford. She is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council, United Kingdom, as both a clinical and a counselling psychologist, and she is a registered counsellor/psychotherapist with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. She is a licensed psychologist in Pennsylvania, USA, and a registered psychologist with the National Register of Health Service Psychologists, USA. She attends as co-representative of RETIRN/UK as correspondent to the General Assembly of FECRIS (European Federation of Centres of Research and Education on Sects). Dr. Dubrow-Marshall is a Consultant in Clinical Hypnosis (advanced certification) with the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis and is certified by the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Institute. She is certified as a Master Addiction Counselor with the National Certification Commission for Addiction Professionals.
"Group's US arm wrote to Trump peddling 'wonderful detox' to 'rid the body' of coronavirusAustralia's drug regulator has started court proceedings against a "healing church" that promoted a solution containing industrial bleach as a cure for coronavirus, after the church failed to remove advertisements promoting the product from its website.
In May the Therapeutic Goods Administration fined the Australian chapter of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing more than $150,000 for selling and promoting the solution containing sodium chlorite, a chemical used as a textile bleaching agent and disinfectant. The product is named Miracle Mineral Supplement and Miracle Mineral Solution on the church's MMS Australia website, which claimed it could prevent and treat a range of diseases including Covid-19. The TGA said the company had breached multiple advertising laws.
At the time, the TGA also informed MMS Australia that it must also immediately remove all advertisements in breach of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989, and warned that court action might be started if the advertisements were not removed within two days. But MMS Australia did not remove the ads. Instead, it updated the website to say those seeking miracle cures should also 'pray to The Lord for healing and guidance'."
"It's been a week since a Minneapolis police officer was seen on video pressing his knee into the neck of an unarmed black man who subsequently died. And it didn't even take that long, as the nation's cities were plunged into chaos in the last several days amid vociferous protests, for the conspiracy theories to take hold on social media.
Jon Miller of the JonXArmy channel on YouTube posted a 22-minute video on Friday suggesting that George Floyd's death was faked. As the New York Times reports, that video was subsequently shared around 100 times, mostly in QAnon lunatic groups, reaching some 1.3 million people.
Also, the phrase "George Floyd is not dead" was spreading on Twitter over the weekend and reportedly peaked on Monday morning, with 15 separate mentions in a 10-minute span.
Zignal Labs, which tracks online activity and has done so during other times of protest around the globe, finds that the protests stemming from George Floyd's death have already far surpassed the online-mention activity than did the Yellow Vest movement in France or the Hong Kong protests last year, with 8.8 million mentions as of Friday."
The Office of National Statistics shows that one in three victims of domestic abuse is male. There is also a growing body of evidence that shows that women perpetrate partner violence at similar rates to men. Despite this, there are relatively few studies examining the experiences of male victims. This survey aims to evaluate the experiences of partner violence for male victims.What will I be asked to do?Your participation is important as you have been in a relationship where there has been the presence of partner abuse/coercive control. If you wish to proceed, you will be asked to complete an online survey that will take approximately 30 - 45 mins. The survey includes questions regarding you and your experience within the abusive relationship. It also includes psychological scales to measure; the behaviour within the abusive relationship, post-traumatic stress symptoms, types of coping and post-traumatic growth.
"Downward dog, sun salutations and all other yoga practices are "absolutely incompatible" with the Christian faith, the powerful Greek Orthodox Church has said.Yoga has no place "in the life of Christians," the governing body of the Church has ruled.It said it intervened after Greek media recommended yoga as a way to combat stress during coronavirus quarantine.Other religions have also advised against the practice in the past.The Orthodox Church is an influential organisation in Greece, and 90% of Greeks identify as Orthodox, according to a 2017 Pew Research Centre report."[Yoga] is a fundamental chapter in Hindu religion... it is not a 'kind of physical exercise'," the Holy Synod said in its statement on Wednesday.Although it is not unheard of for religious authorities to criticise yoga, correspondents say it is unusual for the Orthodox Holy Synod to issue a public statement on the matter.Appearing on a Greek TV network on Thursday, an Orthodox priest defended the Synod's statement.The church's opposition is based on the "experience of those who practised yoga", Father Michael Konstantinidis said, explaining that "if yoga offered what man wanted, we would be happy".The ancient spiritual practice has connections to Hinduism and Buddhism. It is referenced in Indian texts from 2,500 years ago and has evolved over time, according to Dr Mark Singleton, who has researched the history of yoga."
"Much of the Twelve Tribes theology is similar to other Christian groups, but they emphasize living in strict accordance with God's will as revealed in the New Testament and the Old. They follow Jewish levitical laws on lifestyle and diet, and celebrate the major Jewish festivals, including Pentecost, or Shavuot, and Passover.They believe they are gathering together the 12 biblical tribes described in the book of Revelation in preparation for Christ's returnTwelve Tribes members believe that living communally is a requirement for true followers of Christ, who they call by his Hebrew name, Yahshua.A disciple's life is "a tribal life," says an article in the Freepaper, "families, clans, and tribes, in stark contrast to the suburban loneliness of the world."When asked about the spiritual status of the vast majority of Christians who don't live communally, Hushai, one of the local group's shepherds, quoted 1 John 5:19: "We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.""We believe very sincere people" are part of the flawed mainstream "religious system," Hushai said. "We hope we can learn to love one another, obey his commandments, and recognize the leaven of unrighteousness that comes in to separate us."They follow a strict morality that some see as family values on steroids. They favor male leadership, practice corporal punishment on disobedient children, and do not condone homosexuality.Some practices have brought criticisms about legalism and cultlike practices. A Vice story about the group bore this headline: "The Idyllic Restaurant Chain Owned by a Homophobic, Racist, Child-Beating Cult."The Southern Poverty Center issued a similar warning, calling the group "a Christian fundamentalist cult" whose "hippie-vibed restaurants and cafes" conceal "a tangle of doctrine" that, among other things, supports slavery and homophobia.Twelve Tribes communities have frequently been accused of — and occasionally found guilty of — child abuse and labor violations, and have faced penalties for requiring children to perform adult work on Twelve Tribes farms and crafts.Local members are quick to dismiss these and other allegations, and say such controversies are part of the persecution members face for faithfully following Christ."
"Sometime in late April, a new docuseries popped up in my Netflix suggested list.Called "Waco," it's about the 1993 siege on the compound of a religious group called the Branch Davidians by various federal and local government agencies. On day 51 of the siege, which included tanks, firearms and a lot of incendiary tear gas, a fire broke out in the compound that killed 76 Branch Davidians, including 25 children. Ever since, it's been hotly debated whether the government or the Branch Davidians' charismatic and controversial leader, David Koresh, is to blame. I was seven-years-old in 1993 and I remember my parents — people who normally might be quick to write off groups like the Branch Davidians as too extreme — being horrified by what happened. The Branch Davidians' religious views may have been extreme by mainstream standards, but did they really deserve to die the way they did? I didn't think so, and that stuck with me (I ended up majoring in religion in college, focusing on cults)."
'We cannot ignore that there are perpetrators within all our faith communities,' says joint statement"Religious leaders have warned that domestic abuse victims in their communities face the greatest obstacles to getting help, and raised fears that the coronavirus lockdown was causing such violence to soar.Figures from Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Sikh communities said they had heard reports of abuse in the home ranging from psychological and physical violence to spiritual abuse during the Covid-19 emergency.
"For the first time in weeks, kids played in the church cemetery. Nearby, a group of men in their 20s reflected on what it meant to gather again during the pandemic.
"Human health is important," one of them said. "But ultimately, spiritual health is more important."
Their conservative order — one that shuns technology, cars and electricity — never missed Sunday services in more than 100 years, when the deadly 1918 flu pandemic interrupted worship.
Then, a different virus intruded in this world apart.
For nearly two months, the Old Order Stauffer Mennonite Church followed Pennsylvania's stay-at-home order and guidelines that discouraged gatherings in houses of worship. COVID-19 forced the postponement of weddings, funerals and their bi-annual communion, a high point. While some more modern Mennonite orders in Lancaster County held services by video, the Stauffers did not.
But now, it was "time to get back to work," their bishop said. "And more so … in the spiritual sense." It was time to resume worship, he said — though he wondered how many worshippers would come, and he still felt concerns about "offending the public and the government."
News spread fast: first service together in weeks; not mandatory, only for those who felt safe."
"An Alberta-based legal group is threatening a court challenge to fight for the religious rights of Orthodox Jews in Ontario who, because of gathering-size restrictions, have been unable to properly worship during the pandemic.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, a conservative legal group, has been extremely active during the COVID-19 crisis, saying it's pushing to maintain Charter rights even during a pandemic. The group has written to the Alberta government expressing concerns over pieces of legislation, has gone to court to fight restrictions on drive-in religious services in Ontario, and is now preparing legal documents concerning the remaining Ontario restrictions on religious gatherings.
"The Ford government has been slow to make reasonable accommodations for faith groups, even where they present little or no public health risk, and even as the province is beginning to open up," said lawyer Lisa Bildy in a statement to the Post.
In Ontario, hundreds of pastors and other religious leaders signed a letter to Premier Doug Ford sent on May 11 asking for changes to the rules for religious groups, pointing out that, "never in 1,500 years of Western history has the Church of Jesus Christ not met for Easter or missed months of worship and ministry — even in times of war or plague far more devastating than COVID-19."
"The inhumanity of abandoning people in their deepest hour of grief or need is gut-wrenching for followers of Christ," the letter says.
Since that letter, there have been some changes: drive-in services are now allowed, for example. But, On May 22, four Toronto rabbis followed up with another letter, addressing the specific ways in which Orthodox Jews are affected by the rules. They say they haven't been helped by the government allowing drive-in services, while in-person gatherings remain capped at five people. (The National Post was unable to reach the four signatories on Friday).
"When violating any Charter freedom, a government must prove that such violations are demonstrably justified. The more we learn about this virus, and the longer these infringements on Canadians' civil liberties go on, the less likely governments will be able to meet that test," wrote Bildy."
" ... We love a short week, and I spent most of it working on a feature about my hometown — "America's most unusual town," according to Oprah. So that must be true.
It might be. Fairfield, Iowa is home to thousands of disciples of the late Indian guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. People here meditate together daily in large golden domes, eschew wifi and smart meters, and live in unique structures that are said to nourish their occupants."
"In this meander down memory lane, Ed reminisces about his time in the TTC (Technical Training Corps) at Saint Hill, and Jon waxes poetic about the practice of "hard sell."Where does the moth come in? you'll see.
