Coercive control is an act or a pattern of acts used by one person to harm, punish or frighten another person to secure psycho-emotional dominance.
Coercive Control
Coercive control is a sustained pattern of behavior used by one person to dominate, subjugate, and trap another. It is not a single incident — it is a campaign, unfolding over months or years through isolation, surveillance, financial restriction, gaslighting, degradation, and the systematic erosion of the targeted person’s autonomy, identity, and sense of what is real.
The term was developed by forensic social worker Dr. Evan Stark, who described it as a liberty crime — an offense not primarily against the body but against personhood itself. In many jurisdictions it is now recognized in law. In the UK, coercive and controlling behavior has been a criminal offense since 2015. In Australia, New South Wales introduced a standalone coercive control offense in 2024. In the United States, Hawaii and Connecticut have enacted coercive control legislation, with additional states advancing bills.
Narcissistic Abuse Rehab maintains the Global Coercive Control Legislation Index — the first systematic index of its kind on the web — as a reference for survivors, advocates, legal professionals, and policymakers navigating this landscape.
Content tagged here covers the full spectrum of coercive control: its tactics and mechanisms, its neurological and psychological consequences, the legal frameworks designed to address it, its relationship to femicide and intimate partner homicide, and the recovery frameworks that support genuine healing. For the most comprehensive overview, see the Definitive Guide to Coercive Control.
REPRODUCTIVE COERCION is a kind of abuse in which one person or group controls another person’s right to reproductive freedom and self-determination. Perpetrators of reproductive coercion use manipulation tactics, from psycho-emotional abuse and rape to restricting access to healthcare. Perpetrators may oscillate between covert and overt expressions of coercive control. They may also use intermittent reinforcement. For this reason, some…
CHILD-TO-PARENT VIOLENCE (CPV) is estimated to occur in up to 1 in 10 families. ITV News reports that a growing number of people are experiencing parental abuse by children. Experts say that the incidence of child-to-parent violence increased during the coronavirus pandemic. Due to the stigma associated with this most taboo form of domestic abuse, two out of three parents experiencing child-to-parent…
Non-fatal strangulation is slated to become a criminal offense in England and Wales, carrying a sentence of up to seven years in prison.
Non-fatal strangulation is a form of asphyxia produced by continuous application of pressure to the throat. In the context of domestic abuse, it is a tool used by one person to threaten, frighten, and subjugate another person. It is an act of abusive power and control. Research shows that it is a high-risk marker for intimate partner femicide. Every year 50 000…
CONNECTICUT STATE SENATOR ALEX KASSER is sponsoring Jennifer’s Law in honor of Jennifer Dulos in the 2021 Legislative session. The new bill will widen the definition of domestic abuse to include coercive control. “When women are the victims of abuse, they seek safety for themselves and their children. Often that means staying with the abuser because the danger of leaving is too great,” Sen….
Ireland’s first coercive control conviction: Daniel Kane sentenced to 10.5 years, appeal dismissed in 2023. The case that named intimate terrorism in Irish law.
FKA twigs sued Shia LaBeouf again in March 2026 to void the NDA in their 2025 settlement. A clear case of post-separation legal abuse.
Why coercive control must be criminalized worldwide — and what the law looks like where it exists. Updated 2026.
Hawaii’s Governor David Ige signs America’s first coercive control bill into law expanding the definition of domestic abuse.