Actress to testify in support of Jennifer Dulos law
Marilyn Manson’s former partner will join friends of Jennifer Dulos, survivors and national experts voicing support Wednesday for “Jennifers’ Law,” a bill that would expand the definition of domestic violence to include coercive control.
The measure was proposed by state Sen. Alex Kasser, D-Greenwich, who represents New Canaan where Jennifer Dulos lived when she disappeared on May 24, 2019 amid a divorce with her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos.
Kasser said she has worked for months gathering best practices from around the world in the field of domestic violence to make court proceedings safer for victims. A hearing will be held Wednesday before the legislature’s judiciary committee.
“What this definition does is that it gives parameters,” Kasser said. “It explains that coercive control is a pattern of behavior that makes someone scared or prevents them from doing what they want to do.”
The name of the law was originally inspired by Jennifer Dulos but has now been changed to “Jennifers’ Law,” encompassing all victims of domestic violence no matter their name, or socioeconomic or ethnic background, Kasser said.
Actress and activist Evan Rachel Wood who recently made allegations of abuse on her former partner, musician Marilyn Manson, will also testify in support of the bill. Manson denied the allegations on social media.
In written testimony, Wood contends during the relationship Manson chipped away at her freedoms and began sabotaging her relationships with family and friends. He would monitor when she slept and ate, and there were certain things “I wasn’t allowed to wear,” she said in her testimony.
“If I had been educated about coercive control, I may have been able to spot the signs,” Wood said. “I would have been more aware of my civil liberties slowly being stripped away. People who exert this kind of control over someone are masterful at it. Isolation and control are how people who harm clear the pathway for violence because they know it makes it increasingly more difficult for a victim to escape.”
Carrie Luft, a close friend of Jennifer Dulos and the spokesperson for Jennifer Dulos’ family, will also be among those testifying on Wednesday.
“Intimate partner violence affects all genders and cuts across the socioeconomic spectrum. This bill is a critical step toward a larger shift,” Luft said in her written testimony submitted before the hearing. “By changing the language of domestic violence to include coercive control, we can change the law. By changing language we can also change the discussion, and, I hope, change the story. Jennifer Farber Dulos would have wanted to do everything in her power to help others in abusive situations to live free from fear. As her friend I urge the Connecticut state legislature to pass this bill.”
Jennifer Dulos sought a restraining order and emergency custody of her five children when she left her husband in 2017, but was denied since she was unable to show that he had physically harmed her, according to court records.
Fotis had threatened to take their five children away and engaged in other controlling behaviors including trying to use intimidation to get her to sign a custody agreement, court records show.
Jennifer Dulos is presumed dead after she disappeared on May 24, 2019, during a nearly two-year acrimonious divorce and custody battle with Fotis Dulos.
Fotis Dulos died in early 2020 from an apparent suicide as he faced murder and other charges in connection with Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance and death.
Kasser has spent the months since the disappearance researching how to prevent similar tragedies by allowing victims get the help they need up front.
The bill would expand the definition of domestic violence, domestic abuse and family violence in all court proceedings to include “coercive control,” a set of behaviors that abusers often employ when trying to instill fear in order to maintain control of their victims.
The behaviors that would be considered coercive control under the proposed law include isolating victims from family and support networks; attempts to restrict resources needed for independence including money, housing, transportation and health care; intimidation or threats of physical violence; stalking and cyberstalking including monitoring someone’s movements; and attempts to obstruct a person’s right to end a marriage or intimate partner relationship.
Connecticut’s Judicial Branch voiced concerns with the legislation in written testimony submitted to the committee. While they supported extending temporary restraining orders to include instances of coercive control, they are concerned about “the removal of the requirement that the actions which the application arises out of be a continuous, present threat.”
The bill is a modified version of draft legislation that Kasser had been working on as the legislative session moved forward. The legislation would also require the court to prioritize child safety first by before looking at other factors in determining the best interests of the child.
“It doesn’t just create a standard for coercive control, it applies it in the forum where it plays out — in custody proceedings,” Kasser said.
An earlier version of the bill died last year when the legislature was forced to halt the 2020 session due to the coronavirus pandemic. The bill would have to be voted out of committee and receive the approval of the House and Senate before it became law.