Women's Aid: Spot The Abuse

Launched on 25th November, the start of 16 Days of Activism, our new campaign aims to educate people about the signs of coercive control by using the popular format of a TV game show - albeit one where the questions are anything but entertaining, to demonstrate that women often don’t realise their relationship is abusive and that they’re victims of coercive control, as their partners tell them that their controlling behaviour is normal.
While it’s been illegal since December 2015, records of coercive control offenses have been steadily rising. Police recorded 24,856 coercive control offences in England and Wales in the year ending March 2020, a huge rise of more than 50% from the 16,679 recorded the previous year.
The pandemic has only exacerbated the problem. Within the first two weeks of lockdown alone, there was a 41% increase in users visiting the Women’s Aid Live Chat site to seek help on the issue.