Jennifer’s Law: What Every Woman Needs to Know hosted by Strong Savvy Women

Would you recognize coercive control if it happened to you? What about a friend or family member? And would you know what to do about it?

Connecticut just passed landmark legislation making this form of domestic abuse a factor in family court cases. It’s a form of mistreatment that doesn’t have to be physical – and can include threats, intimidation, financial abuse, sexual acts, and stalking. Our state is just one of three with such laws, which follow the United Kingdom’s lead.

Strong Savvy Women invites all local women – single and married – to “Jennifers’ Law: What Every Woman Needs to Know” on Wednesday, November 17 at 7pm at the women-centered coworking space Hayvn in Darien. The event is designed to educate all attendees on how the act came into being, what to look for and what to do about it.

Speakers will be key activists who helped lobby for and created this law including Betsy Keller of Connecticut Protective Moms, Christine Cocchiola who is a Coercive Control Advocate and researcher at New York University and an attorney who will explain how the law should be utilized in our legal system.

Jennifers’ Law is named for two women – Jennifer Dulos who went missing from her New Canaan home in 2019 during a contentious divorce and Jennifer Magnano who was shot by her husband in Terryville in 2007.

“We should be proud that Connecticut is taking a stand for women – but it is up to every one of us to educate ourselves on coercive control and how this legislation applies to our lives,” says Amy Polacko, a Ridgefield resident, single mom and abuse survivor who founded the group last year. “As a divorce and empowerment coach, I have so many women in toxic situations contacting me for support – and happily married women reaching out to me because they have a friend or relative who is living this nightmare.”

Strong Savvy Women is an empowerment group for women who are single, divorced, widowed, or are in transition. Its focus is moving forward – by supporting each other, learning from expert speakers, and having fun. Past event topics have included financial tips, legal advice, co-parenting, self-love, and dating post Covid. Attorney Rosemarie Ferrante of the Mediation Center of Ridgefield/Danbury LLC and financial advisor Alison Hamilton of Eagle Ridge Investments LLC are on the group’s advisory board.

Polacko started the support group in her Ridgefield living room years ago and it now has grown to include women from all over Fairfield County – and beyond. As part of her Freedom Warrior coaching business (www.freedomwarrior.info) she empowers women after a divorce or toxic relationship and helps them create an amazing next chapter. Strong Savvy Women is under this umbrella and is free for all women, no matter what stage they are at in the process.

“Divorce doesn’t have to be the end,” Polacko says. “It can actually be an exciting new beginning.”

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