Gaslighting, love bombing, coercive control - what do these terms of abuse mean?

Domestic abuse has a higher rate of repeat offending than any other crime and encompasses a vast range of behaviours.

- MAYA OPPENHEIM

While society immediately recognises some of these actions as abuse, other types of behaviour are more covert and harder to spot.

This is due to historic ignorance about domestic abuse enabling misconceptions; with many wrongly assuming it is a crime of frenzied romantic passion, and wrongly believing only those who are already vulnerable can fall prey to abusers.

In order to raise awareness and challenge all types of domestic abuse, The Independent has partnered with charity Refuge to raise £300,000 to build a safe space for women and help them find their freedom.

To tackle common misunderstandings about domestic abuse and enable victims to better understand what is happening to them, The Independent has sought to define coercive control, love bombing and gaslighting.

Coercive control

While there is nothing new about coercive control, it is an element of domestic abuse which was overlooked for many years – with many only equating domestic abuse with physical violence. This is despite coercive control being at the very core of domestic abuse.

Coercive control is defined as psychological abuse and controlling behaviour in a relationship, with abusive partners isolating their victims from loved ones or controlling their finances.