Abuse

Coercive and controlling behaviour

Definition

Coercive control describes a range or pattern of behaviours that enable a perpetrator to maintain or regain control of a partner, ex-partner or family member. These methods are usually used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.

It is designed to make a person dependent by isolating them from support, exploiting them, depriving them of independence and regulating their everyday behaviour.

Coercive control became a criminal offence in December 2015:

Section 77 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 states ‘Coercive control creates invisible chains and a sense of fear that pervades all elements of a victim’s life. It works to limit their human rights by depriving them of their liberty and reducing their ability for action.’

Experts like Evan Stark liken coercive control to being taken hostage. As he says: “the victim becomes captive in an unreal world created by the abuser, entrapped in a world of confusion, contradiction and fear.” (Women’s Aid website, 2024)

Examples

Physical and sexual violence or abuse and violent behaviour

  • Physical violence, and threats of physical violence.
  • Physical intimidation, for example, blocking doors, clenching or shaking fists, slamming doors, hitting walls, pretending to hit or swing, throwing objects at or around the victim, displaying weapons or harmful objects, driving dangerously or erratically with the victim in the car.
  • Sexual assault, coercion or abuse, and threats of sexual assault.

Emotional and psychological abuse

  • Abuse relating to faith or beliefs.
  • Verbal abuse.
  • Constant criticism of the victim’s role as a partner, spouse or parent.
  • Criticising the victim’s choice of friends and associates.
  • Intentionally undermining and/or manipulating the victim.
  • Posting unwanted messages on the victim’s social media.

Controlling behaviours

  • Controlling or monitoring the victim’s daily activities and behaviour, for example, making them account for their time, dictating what they can wear, what and when they can eat, when and where they may sleep, who they meet or talk to, where they may work, restricting access to training or development.
  • Using digital systems, such as smart devices or social media, to coerce, control, upset and monitor the victim (for example, restricting and checking phone use, needing to know passwords for accounts, using location tracking on devices, posting of a possibly triggering image).
  • Controlling and monitoring the victim’s access to their post.
  • Acts of coercion or force to persuade the victim to do something that they are unwilling to do.
  • Economic abuse (for example, coerced debt, controlling spending, bank accounts, investments, mortgages or benefit payments).
  • Using a victim’s workplace to control them, for example, denying access to work, dictating where they work, turning up at work.
  • Making and enforcing rules and regulations that the victim is expected to follow and using punishments to make them comply, for example, making accusations or humiliating a person in public or private for deviating from the rules.
  • Coercing the victim into carrying out criminal behaviour such as selling drugs or carrying weapons.
  • Following the victim or appearing unexpectedly (or both) at, for example, their place of work or at places where they are meeting friends.
  • Reproductive coercion, including restricting a victim’s access to birth control, refusing to use a birth control method, forced pregnancy, forcing a victim to get an abortion, to undergo in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or other procedure or denying access to such a procedure.
  • Using substances such as alcohol or drugs to control a victim through dependency, or controlling their access to substances.
  • Using child arrangements and child maintenance to control the victim.

Restrictive behaviours

  • Withholding or destroying the victim’s immigration documents (or both), for example, passports and visas.
  • Preventing normal leisure activities such as volunteering, joining local clubs and groups, sports teams, civil or charitable activity.
  • Preventing the victim from learning a language, improving their existing language skills, such as English if this is not their first language, or making friends outside of their ethnic or cultural background.
  • Refusing to interpret (including British Sign Language, BSL, for deaf victims) on behalf of the victim.
  • Hindering access to communication, for example, refusing to make information accessible, denying access to communication support tools, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), and/or professionals who support communication.
  • Restricting access to health and social care appointments, or preventing the victim from accessing health or social care, including refusing to allow the victim to attend appointments alone. (especially relevant for victims with disabilities or long-term health conditions)
  • Preventing the victim from taking medication, or accessing medical equipment, or over-medicating them.
  • Isolating the victim from family, friends, colleagues and professionals who may be trying to support them, intercepting messages or phone calls.

Threatening behaviours

  • Threats of being placed in an institution against the victim’s will, for example, care home, supported living facility or mental health facility (particularly for disabled or elderly victims).
  • Threats to expose or exposure of sensitive information (for example, sexual activity, private sexual photos or films, sexual orientation and/or transgender identity), or making false allegations to family members, friends, work colleagues, community or others, including via photos or the internet.
  • Making false allegations to statutory agencies, for example, police, children’s services, jobcentre, child maintenance services.
  • Using children to control the victim, for eexample, threatening to take the children away, threatening to harm the children.
  • Using pets to control or coerce a victim, for example, harming, or threatening to harm or give away pets.
  • Intimidation and threats of disclosure of health status or an impairment to family, friends, work colleagues and the wider community, particularly where this may carry a stigma in the community.
  • Threats to the victim, including to their family, friends and pets, that make them feel afraid.
  • Threats to report a victim to immigration enforcement or the police (or both) or threaten to remove the victim to their country of origin.
  • Intimidation or threats to go to the police to report alleged offending.

Statistics

There were 43,774 offences of coercive control recorded by the police in England and Wales (excluding Devon and Cornwall, due to a new database being implemented) in the year ending March 2023. This is compared with 41,039 in the year ending March 2022.

The rise in coercive control offences over recent years may be attributed to improvements made by the police in recognising incidents of coercive control and using the new law accordingly (National Crime Survey 2023).

Safety advice

I want to leave my relationship safely – advice from Women’s Aid.

Immediate harm

  • Contact 999 if a person who is being abused feels that they are at risk of serious harm or homicide.
  • If the person who is being abused needs to be removed from their home for safety please contact their local housing department to make a homeless referral or contact Our refuges – Refuge or via their national helpline: 08002000247.
  • If a person does not have the capacity or ability to make safe choices, make a referral to adult safeguarding services in your area.
  • If children are involved and at risk, make a safeguarding referral to your local team.

Ongoing

  • Ask the person who is being abused what their ideal outcome is in this situation.
  • Ask the person who is being abused to record all incidents of abuse – this could help with safeguarding efforts in the future.
  • Refer the person being abused to support services in their area for specialist domestic abuse support.
  • Ask the person being abused whether they have supportive friends and family and ask them to talk to them about their situation and concerns. If they do not have this network, highlight professionals they work with who may be able to help.
  • Identify what already keeps them safe in this situation and encourage them to continue to do these things, for example, self care, contact with others, creating a safe space at home or identifying somewhere they would go if worried.
  • Have a code word or sign to signal you are in danger – set this up for family and friends to let them know by text, FaceTime or skype. The code will need to alert them to contact the police if you are in danger.
  • Look into Hollieguard and Bright Sky apps for safety features.

Who to contact

More information


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