Hannah’s Law: Aussie state passes new ‘coercive control’ legislation to crack down on domestic abusers after young mum and her children were burnt alive by stalker ex-husband
Coercive control will become a criminal offense in Queensland after landmark laws driven 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 firebombing by Hannah’s estranged ex-husband Rowan Baxter in February 2020, said the changes were a ‘powerful’ step towards women’s empowerment.
Their daughter’s death sparked a widespread outpouring of grief and wider commentary on the effectiveness of frontline services in tackling domestic, family and sexual (DFS) violence, as well as coercive control.
Hannah Clarke (pictured left) and the three children killed in a firebomb attack by estranged ex-husband Rowan Baxter (pictured center right)
Sue Clarke became emotional as she discussed 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, enabling a pursuit of justice against coercive control,” she said.
“We will continue to speak out until coercive control is made a criminal offense across Australia.”
Unlike more overt forms of domestic violence, coercive control involves behavioral patterns that include emotional, psychological and economic abuse, along with isolation, intimidation, sexual coercion and cyberstalking.
A coronial inquest into the deaths of Hannah and her children found that Baxter exhibited 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, in addition to attacking and stalking her after their divorce.
Hannah’s parents, Sue and Lloyd Clarke, have waged a tireless campaign to ’empower women’ with a change in the law
The scene of the horror firebomb attack is depicted
On Wednesday, parliament passed landmark criminal law reforms (coercive control and affirmative consent) and another law amendment bill 2023 – colloquially referred to as ‘Hannah’s law’ – relating to frontline services’ responses 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 Safety and Justice Taskforce, were key drivers of the law changes.
“The state government has listened to the experiences of victims and survivors,” Clarke said after the laws were passed.