Scenario C (obvious situation of coercive control)
Angela and John have been together for 5 years. After 6 months of being together Angela began to ask John a lot of questions about his online usage and check his social media accounts almost daily. Angela would get angry at John if he had liked the content of his friend’s account. Over time, she told him to stop seeing his friends or she would leave him. Angela would get so angry at John that she would smash his phone to the ground in front of him.
After one-year together, Angela moved John out of the town he grew up in into an area 35 miles away so they could enjoy a bigger house and have more privacy. Angela did not like John to visit his parents. Angela had taken control of their finances so John could not buy a train ticket without asking her permission. By the time they had been together three years she would monitor his phone calls to home and cut off the line if the conversation was more than 5 minutes.
Angela would not let John go work and when she left the house, she would lock John inside and take the key to work. Angela told John if he left the house she would know and that there would be consequences when she got home. She would hold her fist up whilst saying this. When John made dinner and Angela did not like it, she would smash the plate in front of him and say that he was a useless partner. Angela would tell John daily that he was fat, stupid and that no one else could ever love him but she did. She told John that if he ever left her, she would kill him and then herself.
Scenario D (less obvious situation of coercive control)
Jane and Rob have been together for one year. Jane would come to meet Rob for lunch every day at his workplace. Jane would ask Rob to try clothes on from his wardrobe and then she would tell him what to keep and what to throw out.
Over time she would take Rob shopping and replace his casual look with more smart shirts and ties, eventually throwing all his clothes out. Jane made an exercise regime for Rob so he could slim down slim down and add muscle. She expected Rob to work out 3 times a week every week and she would check his phone apps to see if he had or not.
Every time they go for dinner Jane would insist on ordering Rob’s food, as she says that she knows more about good food and calories than he. Jane doesn’t like it when Rob talks to other Women, even in work, as it’s too upsetting for her to imagine what the girls are thinking. Jane generally would insist that Rob cancel plans with friends and family if she can’t be there with him. She does not like when she and Rob can’t go out together.
