Around the world, advocates against domestic violence are pushing for family court reforms to protect children and parents from abusive parents. Advocates want judges and attorneys to broaden their view of domestic violence to include coercive control, which usually involves a pattern of behavior that instills fear to restrict an intimate partner's free will.

Kayden's Law, a federal law, and state laws passed in Connecticut, Colorado, California, Pennsylvania and Washington define coercive control, and provide details on how to recognize this abuse, and how to seek relief. Scotland, England, Australia, Ontario, Canada, Wales, Ireland and France also have updated their laws to include coercive control.