If you find yourself walking on eggshells, constantly justifying your partner's behaviour, or quietly losing touch with friends, work, finances or confidence, this article is for you. It is also for anyone supporting someone in that position.

The legal definition

The offence is set out in section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015. It is committed where one person:

• repeatedly or continuously engages in behaviour towards another that is controlling or coercive;
• is "personally connected" to that person, most commonly as a partner, former partner or family member;
• knows, or ought to know, that the behaviour will have a serious effect on the victim; and
• causes either a fear of violence on at least two occasions, or serious alarm or distress that has a substantial adverse effect on the victim's usual day-to-day activities.

In other words, the law focuses on the cumulative effect of a pattern of conduct rather than on any single incident. Behaviour that may seem innocuous in isolation can constitute a serious criminal offence when viewed as part of an established pattern.

Common patterns of behaviour

There is no exhaustive list of what coercive control looks like, but the Home Office statutory guidance and CPS prosecution guidance recognise a number of recurring patterns:

• Isolation: cutting the victim off from family, friends or colleagues, and controlling who they see, where they go and for how long.
• Financial control: restricting access to money or bank accounts, monitoring spending, preventing the victim from working, or running up debts in their name.
• Monitoring and surveillance: checking phones, demanding constant updates on whereabouts, installing tracking software, or controlling social media use.
• Degradation: persistent humiliation, undermining the victim as a parent, or making them doubt their own perceptions and memory.
• Threats and intimidation: threatening violence, threatening to disclose private information or images, harming pets, or threatening to remove children.

Many victims describe a gradual erosion of independence rather than a single shocking moment. That is precisely why the law focuses on patterns of behaviour.

What changed in April 2023

The original offence required the victim and the perpetrator to be living together unless they were in an intimate relationship. That gap left many people unprotected at the very moment they had taken the difficult step of leaving an abusive partner.

Section 68 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 removed the cohabitation requirement. From 5 April 2023, the offence applies to intimate partners, former partners and family members regardless of whether they live together. The change recognises that controlling behaviour often escalates rather than ends when a relationship breaks down. The amendment is not retrospective and applies only to conduct on or after that date.

The 2021 Act also introduced a statutory definition of domestic abuse in section 1, expressly including controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse, and psychological, emotional or other abuse.

Penalties

A person convicted of controlling or coercive behaviour is liable to up to five years' imprisonment, a fine, or both, depending on the seriousness of the conduct and the court in which the case is heard.

Civil protection

A criminal prosecution is one route, but not the only one, and for many people it is not the first.

Under the Family Law Act 1996, the family court can make:

• a non-molestation order, prohibiting the abuser from using or threatening violence, harassing, pestering or intimidating the victim; and
• an occupation order, regulating who can live in the family home.

Breach of a non-molestation order is itself a criminal offence carrying a maximum of five years' imprisonment.

A newer protective measure, the Domestic Abuse Protection Order (DAPO), was introduced by the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and is designed to consolidate various civil and criminal protective orders into a single, flexible tool. DAPOs are currently being piloted in selected areas, including Greater Manchester, the London boroughs of Croydon, Bromley and Sutton, the British Transport Police, Cleveland and North Wales. The pilot has been extended into 2026 and, subject to evaluation, a national roll-out is expected to follow. Outside the pilot areas, non-molestation orders remain the principal civil route.

If you need help now

In an immediate emergency, call 999. If you cannot speak safely, dial 999 and then press 55 when prompted. This is the Silent Solution, which allows the operator to direct your call to the police without you having to speak.

For confidential advice at any time:

• The Refuge National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247 is free, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
• In Wales, Live Fear Free offers the same service on 0808 80 10 800.

You do not need to have decided what to do next or be ready to leave, to make the call.

Recognising coercive control is the first step

Recognising coercive control, whether in your own life or someone else's, is often the hardest step. The law in England and Wales now reflects the reality that domestic abuse is rarely a single incident and that the pattern of control matters as much as any individual act.

If you are unsure whether what you are experiencing meets the threshold for a criminal offence, or if you want to understand what civil protection might be available to you, get in touch with your solicitor. A short, confidential conversation can help you weigh up the options that are right for your circumstances.