Citation

Mitchell JE, Raghavan C. Violence Against Women 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, New York City, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1077801219884127

PMID

31718488

Abstract

There is substantial evidence that women experience unwanted sex under nonviolent duress from partners. This study examined the relationship between coercive control and sexual coercion in heterosexual couples. Among a sample of 136 men arrested for domestic violence, extent of coercive control was used to predict the likelihood of using eight specific sexual coercion tactics.

FINDINGS indicated that coercive control predicted significantly greater likelihood of using covert tactics, but not physically violent or overtly aggressive tactics. The tactics that demonstrated the strongest relationship with coercive control seem indicative of a toxic relational environment that may subtly erode victim autonomy and sense of self over time. Implications discuss how use of more covert and insidious tactics maintain invisibility, isolation, blame, and perceived complicitness of victims in clinical, legal, and social settings.

Language: en

Keywords

coercive control; sexual coercion; tactics