This is an online event.

A masterpiece of suspense and paranoia, the 1944 film Gaslight remains one of cinema’s most compelling portrayals of psychological domestic abuse. Over 75 years later, Ingrid Bergman’s Oscar-winning performance as a wife manipulated by her husband into believing herself insane, continues to demonstrate that violence is not simply a physical act.

This online screening and discussion will explore Gaslight’s continuing significance to a modern digital world, and the role of the law in providing access to justice. The film will be introduced with a short talk by Professor Evan Stark on coercive control and the UK’s Domestic Abuse Bill (currently before the House of Lords). Professor Evan Stark is a forensic social worker and world-leading authority on coercive control, whose research has informed law and policy reform in the UK and internationally.

Gaslighting is now enshrined in the English language as a definition of psychological abuse in which a person seeks to undermine an individual’s sense of self, driving them to question their own memory, perception, or judgment. The UK’s Domestic Abuse Bill 2020 will for the first time stipulate a legal definition of domestic abuse, including psychological abuse and coercive control.

Come along to explore how a Hollywood classic helps us to understand one of the most pressing legal issues of the day.