How agencies enable and perpetuate the coercive control of women.

This article examines how agencies and professionals in criminal justice, healthcare, and other sectors can inadvertently enable and perpetuate the coercive control of women by abusive men. Coercive control is defined as a pattern of assault, threats, humiliation, and intimidation that restricts victims’ liberty and agency, yet it remains widely misunderstood by professionals, who often treat abuse as isolated incidents rather than ongoing campaigns of domination. The authors highlight how abusers manipulate institutional processes—such as police, courts, social services, and healthcare systems—to extend their control, while these agencies may also retraumatize, disbelieve, or criminalize victims, especially those from racially minoritized or marginalized backgrounds. The paper calls for intersectional, trauma-informed, and survivor-centered approaches that create meaningful “spaces” of respect, choice, and healing within services, emphasizing both immediate practical changes and long-term structural transformation to better support women’s safety, justice, and wellbeing.