Court uses “gaslighting” in judgment for the first time

Gaslighting – a form of manipulation and psychological control in which victims are “deliberately and systematically fed false information that leads them to question what they know to be true, often about themselves” – has been used in a published High Court judgment for the first time.

The barrister who led the case, Charlotte Proudman, said the term has been given “legitimacy and credibility” through its use by a High Court judge when speaking to The Independent, describing it as a “milestone” moment which will allow victims of abuse to finally have the term that describes their experiences in use.

Charlotte said:

“For too long abusers have distorted victims’ realities and there has been no legal word or concept to expose it. Finally, we have one: gaslighting.

Everyone should remember this. I see it happen many times in cases and it will not stop. I expect to see it used more because it single-handedly explains victims’ experiences of abuse.

The courts must address this. In this case, the judge also found that the partner raped and abused her and controlled her. It is a powerful judgement by a highly experienced judge and I welcome it.”

The victim in the case accused her partner of domestic abuse and rape. The judge told her that such allegations could result in her losing custody of her child. After winning an appeal in the Court of Appeal, a High Court judge heard the case. Charlotte said:

“I argued that the partner had gaslit her. He convinced her that she had bipolar, he told her repeatedly, he even convinced her family and other professionals.

She did not have bipolar. This is a form of insidious and corrosive abuse when women are made to question their own version of reality because of abusive men. What made it worse is that he is a mental health care worker.”

Dr Proudman says she asked for the case to be published given that it is a “case of enormous public interest”, and her request was granted. This is especially pertinent given that the public will now be able to view the use of this word in the High Court which has previously been seen as “not a proper legal term” when used by Charlotte in previous cases.

The judge in the case, Mr Justice Stephen Cobb, was described as “a leader in this field” by Dr Proudman. Justice Cobb said in his ruling:

“Dr Proudman’s use of the term ‘gaslighting’ in the hearing to describe this conduct was in my judgment apposite; the father’s conduct represented a form of insidious abuse designed to cause the mother to question her own mental well-being, indeed her sanity.

The assertion to the mother and others were ostensibly given greater credibility by the fact that at the time the father was a mental health nurse; he may be thought (and doubtless wanted to be thought) to have drawn on specialist expertise or experience to make his diagnosis/assertion.”

Julian Hawkhead, senior partner at Stowe Family Law, commented:

“The facts of this case do sound truly shocking. Gaslighting as a description of a type of controlling manipulative behaviour has become increasingly common in recent times.

Its origin is a 1930’s play in which a husband manipulates his wife through various activities he carries out including secretly dimming and brightening a gaslight to unsettle and confuse her.

As a family lawyer, we often hear accounts from our clients of the ways in which their spouses or partners have deployed a wide variety of psychological tactics to unsettle them, leaving them feeling confused, isolated, vulnerable and unclear as to the reality of their relationship.”