Domestic abuse: recognising coercive control — it's not just bruises
REVIEWED BY: Sean McNamara on 2026-08-29
The law finally caught up
Since 2015, controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship is a criminal offence (Serious Crime Act 2015 s.76). It doesn't require physical violence. It covers a pattern of behaviour designed to make someone dependent, isolated, scared or controlled.
What coercive control looks like
- Controlling money — taking your wages, refusing to let you work, monitoring every purchase
- Controlling communication — checking your phone, demanding passwords, monitoring who you talk to
- Isolation — preventing you from seeing family or friends, moving you away from support networks
- Threats — to harm you, the children, themselves, or a pet; to report you to immigration; to share intimate images
- Degradation — constant criticism, humiliation, name-calling
- Micro-regulation — what you wear, eat, when you sleep, who you see
- Using children — threatening to take them away, using them to monitor you, turning them against you
Why it matters in family court
PD12J requires the court to identify all forms of abuse — physical, emotional, psychological, financial, sexual. Coercive control is recognised as often more harmful to children than isolated incidents of physical violence, because of its pervasive, ongoing nature.
- It counts as evidence for the legal aid gateway
- It is a MIAM exemption (you can go straight to court)
- It shapes the court's approach to contact (PD12J) — safety before contact
- It can support an FL401 application for protective orders
Reporting coercive control
- 999 in immediate danger
- 101 to report the offence (it is a crime)
- Refuge 0808 2000 247 for safety planning and support
- Keep a log of controlling incidents with dates — patterns matter more than single events
The "why doesn't she just leave?" question
Coercive control makes leaving the most dangerous time. The risk of violence peaks after separation. If you're planning to leave:
- Contact Refuge 0808 2000 247 first for a safety plan
- Tell no one who might tell the abuser
- Use a safe device to research options
- See our FL401 and after-protective-orders guides
Official links
- Serious Crime Act 2015 s.76: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/9/section/76
- https://www.gov.uk/guidance/domestic-violence-and-abuse
This page is general information, not legal advice. YourFamilyCase.co.uk is an independent information directory and is not affiliated with HMCTS or gov.uk.
Content verified against the official HMCTS court directory, gov.uk forms and fees pages, and the professional body registers (SRA, FMC, Bar Council). Last reviewed September 2026.