Legislating ‘coercive control’ in Kenya: A study of the protection against domestic violence act

Abstract

Coercive control is a recognised form of domestic violence in Britain, Ireland and Scotland. It denotes the sequence of controlling and intimidating conduct within a domestic relationship. This dissertation seeks to determine to what extent it is necessary to capture coercive control in Kenyan legislation. This discussion will be bolstered by the Power and Control Wheel Theory and the Cycle of Violence Theory which will determine the value—or lack thereof—the recognition of this form of domestic violence. The dissertation will then come to a crescendo with a discussion of the extent to which coercive control is captured in Kenya’s existing domestic violence legislation, specifically the Protection against Domestic Violence Act (Act No 2 of 2015). The latter part of the paper will delve into a comparative study between Kenya and Britain in seeking to establish the applicability of Britain’s coercive control provisions(within the Serious Crime Act 2015) in Kenya