Legal scholarship and resources on coercive control

Where coercive control is recognized in law

A growing number of jurisdictions criminalize or legally recognize coercive control. Most of these laws address intimate-partner and family relationships, but the pattern they describe closely mirrors high-control groups, and they are reshaping how courts think about undue influence everywhere. This is a summary for orientation, not legal advice; statutes change often, so check the current law in your jurisdiction or consult a lawyer before relying on any of it.

• England & Wales

  Serious Crime Act 2015 (s.76) criminalizes controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship. Carries up to five years' imprisonment.

• Scotland

  Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 creates an offence for a course of abusive behaviour against a partner or ex-partner, expressly including psychological harm. Carries up to 14 years' imprisonment.

• Northern Ireland

  Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021 criminalizes a course of abusive behaviour, modelled on the Scottish Act.

• Republic of Ireland

  Domestic Violence Act 2018 criminalizes coercive control as an offence, following Dr. Evan Stark's framework.

• Australia: New South Wales

  Crimes Legislation Amendment (Coercive Control) Act 2022 created a standalone coercive control offence, in force from July 2024.

• Australia: Queensland

  Criminalised coercive control as a standalone offence in 2024, with the offence coming into force in 2025 alongside a broader overhaul of domestic-violence law.

• Australia: South Australia

  Criminal Law Consolidation (Coercive Control) Amendment Act 2024 passed a standalone offence, coming into force in 2025.

• Australia: Tasmania

  Family Violence Act 2004 includes specific offences for economic abuse and emotional abuse or intimidation, among the earliest coercive-control-style offences anywhere.

• Australia: Victoria

  Family Violence Protection Act 2008 defines family violence to include coercive and controlling behaviour for protection-order purposes; a standalone offence is under active consideration.

• Canada

  The Divorce Act (amended 2021) defines family violence to include coercive and controlling behaviour for family-law purposes. Proposals for a standalone criminal offence have been introduced in Parliament.

• California, USA

  SB 1141 (2020) added coercive control to the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, making it a basis for restraining orders and relevant to custody decisions.

• Connecticut, USA

  Public Act 21-78 (“Jennifer's Law,” named for Jennifer Dulos and Jennifer Magnano, 2021) expanded the definition of domestic violence to include coercive control for protective orders and family court.

• Hawaii, USA

  Act 116 (2020) added coercive control between family or household members to the abuse-of-family-or-household-member statute, the first U.S. state to make it part of a criminal offence.

• Maine, USA

  2020 legislation recognizes coercive control within domestic-violence protective-order law.

• Washington, USA

  2022 legislation added coercive control to the definition of domestic violence in protection-order law.

• Colorado, USA

  Legislation in 2021 and 2023 incorporated coercive control into custody and domestic-violence statutes.

Bills are pending in many other U.S. states (including New York, Massachusetts, and others) and in additional countries. End Coercive Control USA tracks the U.S. legislative landscape.

Legal scholarship on coercive influence

• Dr. Alan W. Scheflin (1938–2024)

  Santa Clara University School of Law. The Mind Manipulators (Scheflin & Opton, 1978) and Trance on Trial (Scheflin & Shapiro, 1989) are the foundational legal texts on undue influence, hypnosis, and coercive persuasion, including how hypnosis and memory-retrieval can be misused in courtrooms and in destructive groups. Later work extended this to the “dark side” of hypnosis and involuntary control.

• Dr. Frances E. Chapman

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  Canadian lawyer and law professor (Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, Lakehead University). Publishes on brainwashing, coercive control, and criminal responsibility, arguing that coerced actors deserve a distinct defence that recognizes the reality of thought reform. A leading contemporary treatment of brainwashing in Canadian and comparative criminal law.

• Dr. Evan Stark

  Sociologist and forensic social worker. Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women in Personal Life (2007) reframed intimate-partner abuse as a liberty crime rather than an incident-based violence problem. The legal vocabulary of “coercive control,” now enshrined in statute in the UK, Ireland, and several US and Australian jurisdictions, comes largely from his work.

• Dr. Steven Hassan (BITE model)

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  The BITE model of authoritarian control is regularly cited in legal and expert-witness contexts as a framework for describing behavioural, informational, thought, and emotional control.

• Dr. Stephen A. Kent

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  Sociologist at the University of Alberta. Has testified as an expert witness on coercive persuasion and undue influence, and publishes on the structure of totalistic groups, exploitation and forced labour within them, and harm to children raised in high-control movements.

Organizations working on cult-related harm

• International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA)

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  Interdisciplinary network of researchers, clinicians, and former members. Publishes on legal aspects of undue influence and maintains a directory of professionals, including expert witnesses.

• Info-Secte / Info-Cult (Montréal)

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  Long-running Canadian information and referral centre on cultic groups and undue influence. Bilingual (French/English) resources for families, professionals, and journalists.

• FECRIS (European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Sectarianism)

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  European umbrella body coordinating national organizations that work on cult-related harm, including legal and policy advocacy.

• Open Minds Foundation

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  International charity focused on public education about undue influence and coercive control, with resources oriented to families, educators, and policymakers.

• MIVILUDES (France)

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  French inter-ministerial mission for vigilance and combat against sectarian aberrations. Publishes annual reports and handles reports of cultic abuse in France.

Survivor advocates and advocacy voices

• Dr. Felicia Rosario

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  Forensic behavioral analyst, litigation consultant, and public advocate. Speaks and writes on coercive control, undue influence, and the legal system's response to survivors of high-control groups and abusive relationships.

• Jennifer French Tomasic, MSc

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  Coercive control psychologist, integrated trauma practitioner, expert witness, and educator. Contributes to survivor-led efforts to make the mechanics of high-control environments legible to lawmakers, journalists, and the general public.

• Kate Amber, MSc

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  Coercive control expert, trainer, and expert witness. Founder of End Coercive Control USA and creator of the Quicksand Model®, a framework for recognizing how coercive control pulls people in and holds them in place.

• Jackie Johnson, DSW, LCSW-R

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  Executive Director of the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA). Brings a social-work and trauma lens to organizational leadership, forensic assessment, and recovery support for survivors of high-control groups.

• Carol Merchasin

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  President of the ICSA Board. Lawyer, investigator, and advocate with decades of experience examining misconduct within high-control spiritual and religious organizations and supporting survivor-centered responses.

• Debby Schriver

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  Vice President of the ICSA Board and author of Whispering in the Daylight. Long-time advocate for people raised in high-control environments, with a focus on storytelling, education, and organizational accountability.

• Daniella Mestyanek Young

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  Second-generation survivor, U.S. Army veteran, and author of Uncultured. Advocates and testifies on coercive control, second-generation experience, and organizational abuse.

• A Little Bit Culty

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  Independent survivor-led public education project amplifying advocates working on coercive control legislation, expert-witness practice, and survivor support.

Media advocates

• Dhyana Levey (Cult Media Messaging)

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  Media consultant and founder of Cult Media Messaging, supporting people from high-demand groups who are considering going public. Producer and host of the podcast Generation Cult, with a focus on people who grew up in high-control environments.

Survivor-oriented legal references

• Coercive control legislation (overview)

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  A survivor-oriented explainer on how coercive control is defined in law in England and Wales. Useful reference point for people trying to name what happened in a high-control relationship, even where local statutes differ.

• RAINN (legal information, US)

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  State-by-state legal information on sexual violence, statutes of limitations, and reporting options. Relevant when abuse inside a high-control group included sexual harm.

Intimate partner violence, custody, and protective parenting

• Dr. Lisa Aronson Fontes

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  Psychologist and author of Invisible Chains: Overcoming Coercive Control in Your Intimate Relationship. Widely used by survivors and clinicians as a plain-language guide to recognizing coercive control in intimate partnerships, closely adjacent to the dynamics of high-control groups.

• Dr. Christine Cocchiola

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  Therapist, parenting coach, and divorce/custody coach specializing in coercive control, narcissistic abuse, and protective parents navigating family court. Her practice focuses on the traumatic experiences of adult and child victims before escape, after escape, and through custody proceedings.

• Safe & Together Institute

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  Works to improve child welfare and justice-system responses to domestic violence, including coercive control. Publishes guidance on how allegations of parental alienation can be weaponized against protective parents and how to keep the focus on perpetrator patterns and child safety.

• The Barron Foundation (Protective Parent Resources)

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  Resource library built for protective parents navigating high-conflict custody litigation, post-separation abuse, and coercive control. Includes documentation guidance and courtroom strategy materials.

• One Mom's Battle (Tina Swithin)

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  Survivor-led education and community for people experiencing high-conflict divorce, narcissistic abuse, and parental alienation. Offers practical guidance on documentation, court preparation, and protecting children emotionally.

• National Domestic Violence Hotline

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  24/7 confidential support for people experiencing intimate partner violence in the U.S. Offers safety planning, legal referrals, and local resource connections. If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency number.