Keynote Address: Coercive Control as Systemic Issue
No formal vote; keynote address
Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanigan delivered opening remarks contextualizing coercive control within broader systemic issues of domestic and sexual violence. She emphasized that violence disproportionately affects Indigenous women, women of color, and LGBTQ+ communities. She shared personal experience as a survivor and child witness of coercive control, noting the shame and internal battles survivors face. She called for expanding understanding of safety, believing survivors, funding culturally-specific services, and updating laws and policies to address coercive control.
Panel Discussion: Root Causes and Predictors of Controlling Behavior
No formal vote; panel discussion
Hector Matas Castillo, executive director of ASC Psychological Services, identified insecurity and anxiety as primary root causes of controlling behavior. He outlined a progression from insecurity to anxiety to mocking behavior to more insidious control disguised as caring. He identified predictors including prior exposure to domestic violence, codependency, heterosexual marriage with multiple children, higher education levels in the perpetrator, and alcohol use. He emphasized that mental health disorders do not cause abuse—abuse is a chosen behavior, though it is often paired with personality disorders like obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
Panel Discussion: Mental Health and Neurological Impacts of Coercive Control
No formal vote; panel discussion
Dr. Shannon Gekki Watson detailed the mental health consequences of coercive control, including toxic shame, fear, anger, PTSD, depression, and anxiety. She explained neurological impacts through the lens of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, noting that coercive control keeps survivors in a fight-flight-freeze state. She identified additional impacts including hits to self-trust, self-esteem, intimacy, and understanding of personal autonomy. She emphasized that trauma from coercive control is treatable.
Panel Discussion: Sexual Assault Tactics and Coercive Control
No formal vote; panel discussion
Britney Pucket, senior staff nurse with Hennepin Healthcare's assault response team, described how verbal manipulation, emotional abuse, and substance use are employed in sexual assault. She explained that these tactics undermine self-worth and reduce resistance, creating power dynamics that trap survivors through fear of consequences for refusing sexual demands. She noted that the goal is to make survivors feel they have no option but to engage in sexual activity.
Panel Discussion: System and Community Response Gaps
No formal vote; panel discussion
Jess Palian, policy program manager at Violence-Free Minnesota, explained how coercive control disrupts survivors' ability to communicate what is happening to them because it is not universally recognized as abuse. He noted that system actors trained to identify physical violence may miss subtle, insidious control tactics. He emphasized that survivors themselves may not recognize their situation as abusive for months or years, making self-advocacy difficult.
Panel Discussion: Justifications and Rationalizations Used by Abusers
No formal vote; panel discussion
Hector Matas Castillo detailed how abusers justify control through claims of 'helping,' religious ideology, concern for children, and protection of family. He presented a case study of a man who convinced his wife she needed psychiatric hospitalization multiple times, framing it as protection. He noted that younger abusers may genuinely believe they are being helpful, while older, repeat offenders shift to denying and minimizing to avoid detection.
Panel Discussion: Behavioral Barriers to Seeking Help
No formal vote; panel discussion
Dr. Shannon Gekki Watson outlined how toxic shame, fear, negative self-talk, black-and-white thinking, and emotional reasoning create barriers to help-seeking. She explained that shame is connected to social connection, and since help-seeking requires relationships, shame becomes a significant barrier. She noted that survivors often turn to substance abuse and unhealthy coping mechanisms rather than seek professional support.
Panel Discussion: Physical Health and Reproductive Coercion Impacts
No formal vote; panel discussion
Britney Pucket discussed how coercive control manifests in physical health through isolation, monitoring, controlling exercise and diet, financial control, and reproductive coercion. She explained that reproductive abuse—forcing or preventing pregnancies—has lasting mental health effects on mothers, including resentment toward pregnancy and children, depression, and impaired mother-child bonding. She noted that low birth weight is a significant physical health outcome.
Panel Discussion: Breaking Free and Healing from Coercive Control
No formal vote; panel discussion
Dr. Shannon Gekki Watson outlined healing pathways including social support (identified as the biggest protective factor), psychotherapy using evidence-based PTSD protocols, managing self-talk, understanding the difference between submission and consent, self-compassion, and breaking silence. She emphasized that survivors need empowerment rather than rescue, and that the best intervention is prevention through education.
Panel Discussion: Possibility of Change and Intervention Programming
No formal vote; panel discussion
Hector Matas Castillo affirmed that people who use abusive behavior can change through evidence-based treatment, particularly dialectical behavior therapy and cognitive-behavioral models addressing underlying trauma. He challenged intervention programs to employ rigorous, empirically-supported methods rather than minimal compliance-based approaches. He noted that most clients in his programming do stop abusive behavior, and that change is often motivated by realization that current behavior is destructive.
Panel Discussion: Communication and Language Around Domestic Abuse
No formal vote; panel discussion
Jess Palian stressed the importance of using clear, direct language about coercive control so children and adults can recognize and name it. He advocated for responsible media reporting that includes resources, avoids victim-blaming language, and acknowledges that coercive control is not limited to heterosexual relationships or male perpetrators. He emphasized that people should be able to talk with clarity about what they're experiencing in their relationships.
Panel Discussion: Legal Status of Coercive Control in Minnesota
No formal vote; panel discussion
Jess Palian explained that Minnesota currently has no laws specifically criminalizing coercive control, though elements can appear in custody and protection order proceedings. He noted concerns about criminalizing coercive control given existing barriers to believing physical abuse survivors, disparate impacts on people of color, and lack of legal representation for most survivors in court. He emphasized that community-based advocacy networks can support survivors even when criminal justice responses are limited.
Closing Remarks and Key Takeaways
No formal vote; closing remarks
Panel members provided closing statements emphasizing key takeaways. Jess Palian highlighted the statewide network of 90+ coalition members ready to support survivors. Britney Pucket emphasized understanding abusers' goals and the importance of being present for survivors. Dr. Shannon Gekki Watson stressed that trauma from coercive control is treatable. Hector Matas Castillo challenged intervention programs to use evidence-based approaches. Ann Averil emphasized the need to stop asking 'why don't you just leave' and to listen, validate, and believe survivors.