Waypoint Talks presents “Supporting intimate partner violence research: What does it mean for healthcare and community organizations?”
Dr. Zoe Hilton from Waypoint Centre for Mental Healthcare discusses what coercive control is and how it might manifest in relationships.
Coercive control can be defined as “patterns of controlling behaviours over time, similar to hostage-taking tactics” (Evan Stark, 2017). Overtime this behaviour forces their partner into staying in the relationship, which undermines their ability to leave or even trust their own perception of understanding what is happening to them.
There are two types of coercive control:
- Direct coercion – Direct force of coercion and intimidation
- Indirect coercion – Constrained through social expectations in a relationship
