Coercive Control

"Coercive control is the operating system of modern slavery—it maintains compliance without constant physical violence. Our reports make that invisible control visible."

– Dr. Grace Robinson

What is Coercive Control?

  • A strategic pattern of intimidation, isolation, degradation, exploitation, surveillance, and micro-regulation to dominate another person.
  • In modern slavery, it underpins sexual, labour, criminal and domestic servitude; violence may be present, but control often relies on threats, debts, shame, immigration abuse, or harm to loved ones.

Who is Affected by Coercive Control?

  • Adults and children across all demographics; those with prior trauma, disabilities, insecure status, poverty, or care-experience are particularly vulnerable.

Relationship with Modern Slavery

  • Coercive control is the common mechanism linking diverse exploitation types—explaining compliance, delayed disclosure, and apparent “choices” misread by the system.

Examples of Coercive Control in the UK

  • Workers “fined” for rule-breaking, kept in perpetual debt, passports retained, movements monitored.
  • Children in County Lines given rewards/punishments, families threatened, locations tracked.
  • Partners/handlers using immigration threats, reputational ruin, or child-contact leverage.

  • Fearfulness; hyper-vigilance; scripted accounts; sudden withdrawal from services.
  • Third-party control of phones, finances, documents, transport, accommodation.
  • “Rules” dictating clothing, food, sleep, work hours; punishment for non-compliance.
  • For children: rapid behavioural change, secrecy around new “friends,” missing episodes.

  • Patterned behaviour: ongoing domination through intimidation, isolation, degradation, and micro-regulation.
  • Psychological over physical control: threats, humiliation, or manipulation replace constant violence.
  • Surveillance: monitoring of movements, phone use, finances, and communications.
  • Conditional rewards and punishments: alternating affection, neglect, or aggression to enforce dependence.
  • Restriction of freedom: rules governing appearance, speech, work, or social interaction.
  • Gaslighting and distortion: victims made to doubt their perceptions or responsibility for abuse.
  • Fear and compliance: victims appear to cooperate or “choose” their situation as a survival response.
  • Overlap with exploitation: coercive control is the foundation of many other modern slavery forms, including labour, sexual, and criminal exploitation.

  • Name and map the pattern: timeline of rules, punishments, debts, threats, and surveillance.
  • Avoid focusing on single incidents; evidence the system of control.
  • Multi-agency safety planning; independent advocacy; NRM referral where criteria are met.

  • We analyse how coercive environments remove realistic alternatives and directly cause alleged offending.
  • For children, we assess exploitation without the adult compulsion test.

  • Translate coercive control into clear, court-ready analysis, addressing common myths (e.g., “they could have left,” “they had a phone,” “they smiled in photos”).
  • Explain trauma responses (compliance, freeze, returning to controllers) as predictable survival strategies.

  1. Initial discussion of issues.

  1. Agree scope and timetable.

  1. Provide full disclosure (statements, digital evidence, medical/psych records, NRM papers).

  1. We review, assess your client, and produce an admissible report.

  1. We attend hearings to give oral evidence if needed. 

  • Ask targeted questions on rules, sanctions, debts, threats, isolation, surveillance.
  • Provide chronological materials to build a control map (messages, bank, travel, cell-site).
  • Consider psychological opinion where trauma, neurodiversity, or cognitive impairment are present.

Founded by Dr Grace Robinson in 2019.

OUR PRIMARY AIM IS TO SUPPORT VICTIMS AND INCREASE AWARENESS OF MODERN SLAVERY.

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