Domestic violence as terrorism: Can control orders succeed where DV orders have failed?

Abstract

Scholars have recently begun to explore the similarities between domestic violence and domestic terrorism. Both forms of offending rely on the use and threat of violence in conjunction with controlling behaviours to instil fear in their victims, and both forms of offending are predominantly committed by men. Yet despite these similarities, terrorism offences are treated as grave offences against the security of the nation-State, whilst domestic violence is not. The purpose of this paper therefore is to examine whether an amended control order framework – appropriately adapted to the unique criminological roots of domestic violence – might be a better mechanism for controlling these insidious crimes.