What is Coercive Control?

- COERCIVE CONTROL is intended to methodically undermine victims' autonomy and independence by gradually eroding their financial and emotional foundations. - Financial abuse is an often invisible but devastating form of domestic abuse that functions as a core component of COERCIVE CONTROL. - Individuals who commit such acts of COERCIVE CONTROL, be they a partner, parent, sibling, carer, or someone in a position of authority will utilize strategies like gaslighting, surveillance of movements, and control over personal decisions to assert their dominance. - COERCIVE CONTROL is committed by abusers controlling the victim's finances and separating the victims from their communities, workplaces, and support networks. These abusers establish a psychological trap that may also include intimidation through threats to children or pets. - It is crucial to bring these often hidden forms of COERCIVE CONTROL to light within our communities, as attaining financial independence is a vital foundation for recovery and sustained healing for the abused. - Revealing the actions of abusers of COERCIVE CONTROL and highlighting their behaviour is a crucial step in dismantling the systems that enable domestic violence to persist. - By illuminating instances of abuse, society transfers the burden of shame from the victim to the perpetrator, disrupting the isolation that abusers depend on to exert control. - Exposing abusers of COERCIVE CONTROL is crucial for several reasons: - 1/ Validation and Healing: For survivors, public acknowledgement or legal accountability affirms their experience. It addresses the impacts of gaslighting and establishes a basis for psychological recovery and the achievement of financial independence. - 2/ Ensuring Future Safety: Transparency serves as a protective measure for the community. Recognising patterns of coercive control, such as monitoring movements or dictating choices, enables individuals to identify warning signs early, which can potentially save lives and prevent the abuse of children, pets, or other vulnerable individuals. - 3/ Systemic change: Highlighting abuse in workplaces, industries, and legal systems compels institutions to progress. It promotes the establishment of strong support systems and policies that prioritise the protection of victims over the safeguarding of individuals in positions of authority. - 4/ Dismantling Coercive Control: Coercive control persists in the background. When communities and legal authorities confront these patterns of behaviour directly, they remove the abuser's ability to control the victim's life and cut off their access to support.