Coercive control is domestic abuse without the physical scars. When the law came into force a decade ago, 53 coercive control offences were charged and reached court in the final quarter of that year. Since 2015, these sustained increases have equated to more than 20,600 coercive control offences being charged. We are embedding domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms, so victims get the right response from the first call. Too many victims still don’t recognise coercive control as criminal behaviour and something they are able to report and access support for.

Source: Huffington Post December 29, 2025 19:03 UTC