May to consider ‘gaslighting’ law after death of MP’S daughter
THERESA MAY said she would look to toughen the law on “gaslighting” – a form of abuse on social media – after MPS raised the issue in an emotional moment in the Commons.
Natalie Lewis-hoyle, the daughter of Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the deputy speaker, took her own life earlier this year, having been in a “coercive” relationship.
Gaslighting is a type of domestic abuse and manipulation, in which the victim can be made to question their sanity and actions, increasingly online. While it is already against the law, cases are difficult to prosecute – which the Government plans to try to address.
The term comes from the 1938 play Gas Light, which featured a husband who tormented his wife and made her think she was losing her mind. The inquest into Miss Lewis-hoyle’s death recorded an open verdict after ruling out both accident and suicide.
John Whittingdale, the former minister, spoke of her death at Prime Minister’s Questions, and asked Mrs May to support a website, Chat with Nat, set up by Natalie’s mother to help other gaslighting victims. Mr Whittingdale told the Commons: “At the end of last year, my constituent Natalie Lewis Hoyle, the daughter of Cllr Miriam Lewis and our right honourable friend the member for Chorley, took her own life having been in a coercive relationship and suffered mental abuse in what is known as gaslighting.”
Mrs May offered the condolences of the House to the family and said the Government would look into the issue of gaslighting. She said she was happy to lend her support to the website.
The Prime Minister added: “We are currently looking in our consultation on transforming the law on domestic abuse and violence [and] we are looking for ideas on how the offence can be further strengthened to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.”