Coercive control survivors are being invited to take part in new Irish study

Many people may have been in intimate relationships with a partner who they perceived to be controlling but coercive control can have a different quality. Stock picture

Women who have suffered coercive control in intimate relationships are urged to take part in a new Trinity College Dublin study on this dehumanising form of psychological abuse. 

“Women often feel trapped,” said the study's lead researcher, psychologist in clinical training, Niamh Brazil. 

She said:  “Coercive control encompasses specific tactics that perpetrators use to enforce obedience or provoke a particular response.”

"Coercive control is typically experienced by survivors as intimidation, use of force, threats, deprivation, or exploitation. 

"A key piece is that, collectively, such characteristics are experienced as a lack of freedom and entrapment."

While many people may have been in intimate relationships with a partner who they perceived to be controlling, coercive control can have a different quality, she said.

US academic Evan Stark developed the term ‘coercive control’ to show that domestic abuse is more than a physical attack but a pattern of behaviour which aims to control the victim, depriving them of their liberty and attacking their sense of self.

According to Garda National Protective Services Unit data, women make up 90% of those who report experiencing coercive control. Stock picture

Examples of this criminal behaviour include verbal, physical, sexual, or emotional abuse within an intimate relationship; stalking; surveillance; isolation from family and friends; and control over another’s finances or independence. Researchers are eager to speak with people who identify with this experience.

“Past research has noted that the sinister and intentional nature of coercive control, can challenge our most basic assumptions about intimate relationships,” Ms Brazil said.

Considering the characteristic secretive and hidden nature of this experience, it’s important that the voices of survivors are heard. 

"Furthermore, there is increasing awareness of the phenomenon of coercive control in society and as such, the psychological impacts of this are important to explore.”  Ms Brazil said: 

Women made up 90% of those who reported experiencing coercive control, according to the Garda National Protective Services Unit figures published last September.

"The report outlined that a spouse or current/former intimate partner was the most likely person to commit a violent crime against women.

“It also stated that women are disproportionately impacted by sexual offences, at 80% of cases reported." Ms Brazil added:  

Importantly, the report acknowledges the vast under-reporting of incidents to the gardaí, meaning such figures are likely higher in our society. 

Prospective participants for this study are asked to take part in three individual interviews.

These interviews will be audio recorded to allow the material to be analysed, and they are strictly confidential.

Such interviews will give participants the space to talk freely about their experience relating to this topic. 

Recordings will be deleted immediately once interviews are transcribed, and participants' data will be anonymised and treated in a confidential manner. 

All data will be stored and handled in line with GDPR and ethical guidelines.

As participants’ safety is a priority, researchers wish to speak to women who have been free of the relationship for at least a year; who have not had contact with the perpetrator in that time; and who are not currently going through legal proceedings.

• Anyone interested in participating can email [e-mail] or call 087 4352929.
• If you have been affected by any of the content in this article, or currently have lived experience of being in an abusive relationship, the following support services are available:
• Women’s Aid on 1800 341900. Or Dublin Rape Crisis Centre 24-Hour Helpline 1800 778888.