How narcissist smear campaigns work, why they’re so destabilizing, and what actually protects you. By a coercive trauma specialist.
Entrapment-Based Relationship
Entrapment-based relationships refer to partnerships where one individuals is confined due to manipulation tactics used by a controlling partner. The entrapped person is conditioned by the controlling person to dread the consequences of exiting the relationship, as the controller has demonstrated the dire consequences they will face should the leave.
Controlling people who cultivate entrapment based relationships often subject their victims with threats about how they will “pay” should the abandon the relationships. There is a spectrum of consequences that ranges from humiliation (i.e. character assassination, revenge porn) to extreme acts of violence (i.e. femicide, familicide, murder/suicide).
Uninformed bystanders are often ignorant about the manipulation tactics used by controllers. Therefore they are prone to victim-blaming, and frequently ask, “Why doesn’t she just leave?” without understanding the reality of the psychological terror victim-survivors experience in entrapment based relationships. For context, a child dies every six days in the context of child custody disputes. These acts of filicide are intended to punish victim-survivors for leaving entrapment-based relationships. The most dangerous time for any survivor of coercive control is leaving the relationship.
In such relationships, the party feeling entrapped often dreads the consequences of leaving, as the other party may resort to punishments and cruelty as a means of maintaining control.
Breaking free from such a relationship requires support and intervention. Victims can seek assistance from friends, family, or professional counselors to understand the dynamics of the relationship and explore strategies for establishing boundaries and regaining control over their lives.
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