What is coercive control, and why did England and Wales make it a crime in 2015?

Coercive control is a pattern of behavior in which one person seeks to gain and maintain control over another, often by making them dependent: isolating them from support, depriving them of independence and regulating their everyday activities. England and Wales made it a crime in 2015, when section 76 of the Serious Crime Act created the offence of controlling or coercive behavior in an intimate or family relationship. The Home Office said it aimed to close a gap in the law around such patterns, so that victims of abuse that stops short of serious physical violence, but amounts to extreme psychological and emotional abuse, could bring their abusers to justice.

The tactics are often ordinary-looking on their own. Descriptions list praise and love bombing, silent treatment, threats, guilt trips, gaslighting and explosive anger. Traumatic bonding can occur when ongoing cycles of reward and punishment create powerful emotional bonds, resistant to change, and a climate of fear. Many people do not recognize themselves as abusers or victims, because they may consider their experiences as family conflicts that had gotten out of control.

For the offence, the behavior must have been engaged in repeatedly or continuously and must have had a serious effect on the victim: fear of violence on at least two occasions, or serious alarm or distress with a substantial adverse effect on day-to-day activities. The accused must know, or ought to know, that it will have that effect, and the maximum penalty is five years in prison. Other places have followed in different ways: Ireland's Domestic Violence Act 2018, enacted in 2019, lets coercive control be identified by its effects on the victim, and Connecticut's Jennifers' Law expands the definition of domestic violence to include it.