New Victorian law could help with Gett refusal

When Chana* left her husband in 2021, he still controlled a big part of her future. Without a gett, a Jewish divorce document, she could not repartner.

“He didn't want me to date. He didn't want me to remarry,” she recalls. “He sort of saw that as a way to keep me caged, it was something that he was able to hold over me.”

Chana was eventually able to obtain a gett, but for some women, and occasionally men, gett refusal can continue indefinitely. These people could be helped by Victoria's new coercive-control offence.

From March 1, 2028, coercive control will become a standalone criminal offence in Victoria, carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment.

A Victorian government spokesperson told The Jewish Independent that the expert advisory group helping implement the new law will consider examples such as "control in religious settings".

“Every alleged case of coercive control will be assessed individually by Victoria Police and the courts,” the spokesperson said.

Former London Beth Din case director Joanne Greenaway has described English cases where the prospect of criminal consequence under coercive-control laws helped secure a gett after other approaches had failed.

Professor Heather Douglas AM, a Melbourne Law School expert on domestic and family violence, said gett refusal could be considered under the new Victorian law. “I would see refusal of a gett as potentially part of a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour,” Douglas said.