In July 2025, agents from the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, agents compiled a PowerPoint presentation that should have been a blueprint for a national reckoning. Instead, it became a ledger of protected names. The so-called Epstein Files now reveal that the Bureau created a shortlist of eleven prominent individuals—a roster of powerful men that includes Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,…
Coercive Control
Coercive control is pattern of behavior used by one person to harm, punish, frighten, or threaten another person. It is considered the most dangerous and malicious type of intimate partner and family violence as it is a form of psychological torture. Domestic violence occurs in the context of coercive control. Moreover, it is the foundational strategy used to accomplish the subjugation, oppression, and exploitation of women.
Signs of coercive control include:
– Monitoring your time
– Taking control of your daily life
– Devaluation
– Obstruction of Employment
– Financial abuse
– Criminal damage
– Isolation
– Rules and Regulations
– Deprivation of Basic Needs
– Monitoring Communication
– Threats
– Sexual Assault
It was first criminalized in the UK in 2015. To learn what other countries and states have laws against it, log onto The Coercive and Controlling Legislation Global Database, which we developed in 2020 to monitor legislative updates.
Through the enactment of Om’s Law, Utah is formally recognizing the urgent necessity of closing the knowledge gap regarding the true, multifaceted nature of intimate partner and family violence. In the post-#MeToo era, the response to women articulating the reality of men’s violence has been a systematic rollback of bodily autonomy and labor equity. The political climate has shifted so…
U.K. law enforcement is finally confronting a chilling, yet frequently overlooked, instrument of coercive and controlling behavior: the tactical abuse of household pets. This February, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is launching a specialist training program for more than 150 senior investigators, casework managers, and decision-makers. The curriculum is designed to sharpen the investigative eye for the hidden…
For World Diabetes Day 2025, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) championed a theme of Diabetes and Well-being, with a specific focus on Diabetes and the Workplace.1 The campaign urged employers to combat stigma and foster supportive environments—a noble, if predictable, cause. Yet, while the IDF looks toward the office, they have largely overlooked a far more immediate threat: the lethal intersection…
Canada is on the verge of a historic legal transformation. With the introduction of the Protecting Victims and Vulnerable Persons Act, the nation is poised to become the first among its peer democracies-including the United States, the UK, and Australia-to formally codify femicide as a distinct concept within its Criminal Code. On December 9, 2025, Justice Minister Sean Fraser tabled Bill C-16,…
A list of the countries that have criminalized femicide and the corresponding legislation.
This year, UN Women’s 16 Days of Activism is spotlighting the crisis of gender-based digital violence.
How the DARVO (Deny Attack Reverse Victim and Offender) tactic shows up in marriage and other types of relationships.
A new study reveals Ireland’s gender-based violence attitudes are outdated, hindering progress towards equality.
Every ten minutes, somewhere in the world, a woman or girl is killed by an intimate partner or family member.