Controlling and coercive behaviour is a form of domestic abuse and is considered a crime in the UK under the Serious Crime Act 2025. Controlling behaviour is an act or pattern of acts that are deliberately intended to make a person subordinate or dependent, for example, by isolating them from support, exploiting their resources and regulating their everyday behaviour. Coercive behaviour is an act or pattern of acts that is used to harm, punish or frighten a person, for example, threats, humiliation, and intimidation. While controlling and coercive behaviour may occur in a relationship, it sometimes continues after divorce or the end of a relationship. Please note these examples of controlling and coercive behaviour are not exhaustive; they can manifest in many ways.
If you have been affected by any form of controlling and coercive behaviour, please speak to our family law solicitors in complete confidence. We will listen to the details and recommend the best course of action, including ensuring your immediate safety and that of your children.
How to prove controlling and coercive behaviour
To prove that you are the victim of controlling and coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship, we must be able to show that a person you are ‘personally connected to’ has repeatedly or continuously engaged in behaviour towards you is controlling or coercive that:
- Had a serious effect on you
- That person knew or ought to know that the behaviour would have had a serious effect on you
You are likely to be considered (in the eyes of the law) to be personally connected to a perpetrator of controlling and coercive behaviour if:
- You are in an intimate personal relationship with the other person
- You live together, and you are members of the same family
- You have previously been in an intimate personal relationship with each other
The actions in question may be considered to have had a serious effect on you if they caused you to fear, on at least two occasions, that violence will be used against you or it caused you serious alarm or distress, which has a substantial harmful effect on your day-to-day activities.
Evidence to prove controlling and coercive behaviour
The types of evidence used to prove controlling and coercive behaviour in a family court can include:
- 999 tapes or transcripts
- Bank records – i.e. as evidence of financial control
- CCTV and body-worn video footage
- Diaries kept by the victim
- Emails
- Evidence of abuse over the internet, digital technology and social media
- Evidence of isolation – e.g. isolation from family and friends
- GPS tracking devices installed on mobile phones, tablets, vehicles, etc
- Medical records
- Phone records
- Photographic evidence of injuries sustained, such as defensive injuries to forearms, latent upper arm grabs, scalp bruising, clumps of hair missing
- Previous threats made to children or other family members
- Records of any involvement with support services
- Text messages
- Victim statement – this should set out in detail what happened to the victim, the impact on the victim, and the perpetrator’s conduct, and
- Witness statements – including from family and friends of the victim
Please note that this list of possible evidence of controlling and coercive behaviour is by no means exhaustive. It is also important to consider that the burden of proof in controlling and coercive behaviour cases in the family court is ‘on the balance of probabilities’, i.e. the court must be satisfied that the controlling and coercive behaviour in question is more likely than not to have happened. This differs from the higher criminal burden of proof, which requires that the allegations be proved ‘beyond all reasonable doubt’.
Consequences of Controlling and Coercive Behaviour
The legal consequences of being convicted of controlling and coercive behaviour can include any of the following:
- Imprisonment of up to a maximum of 5 years
- Ancillary orders – ancillary orders are sometimes issued by judges in addition to sentencing to redress the harm caused by the offender. This may take the form of compensation orders, criminal behaviour orders (to prevent any future recurrence) and exclusion orders, e.g. to remove the perpetrator’s right to live in the family home.
- Restraining order – e.g. to protect the victim from further harassment.
- Occupation order – occupation orders set out who can live in the family home or enter the surrounding area.
- Child arrangement order (CAO) – especially if children are considered at risk of harm. CAOs are used to determine where a child will live and with whom they will spend time.
If the court issues an order against the perpetrator of the controlling and coercive behaviour, any breach of that order can then be enforced by the police and courts to ensure the safety of the victim. Breaches of court orders can lead to even more serious legal consequences for the perpetrator of the controlling and coercive behaviour.
