Language matters

What people usually mean by “paedophile protection” It refers to actions that shield an offender rather than protect children, such as: In psychology and safeguarding, this is more accurately described as: Why this happens (psychology, not excuses) Research shows this behaviour often arises from: Importantly:These motivations explain behaviour — they do not justify it. The key safeguarding… Read More Language matters

Keep quiet!

One of the least talked-about moments in coercive control happens after disclosure — not during the abuse. When someone finally tells a relative and the response is:“Well, you’ve told the whole world now,”followed by pressure to “just split everything quickly and move on” —with no empathy, no support, no concern for safety — something important is happening.… Read More Keep quiet!

Closed networks

When we talk about coercive control, we often focus on one person harming another.But in reality, it rarely operates alone. Coercive control spreads by shaping the social environment around the victim.Family members and close networks may be drawn in — not through malice, but through persuasion, partial information, and appeals to loyalty or “keeping the… Read More Closed networks

Shrinking the victim’s world

Coercive control rarely operates in isolation.One of its most effective tactics is turning families into unwitting extensions of the abuse. Here’s how that happens — clearly and without euphemism. 1. Recruitment: how families get pulled in Abusers don’t usually start by demanding silence. They start by shaping the narrative. Once this framing is accepted, families begin to self-police… Read More Shrinking the victim’s world

Families who hide domestic violence

This is a real, documented problem, and it tends to surface most clearly after serious harm or homicide, when people start asking why no one knew. Here’s how families covering up domestic violence and the use (or misuse) of gagging mechanisms typically works — and why it’s so dangerous. 1. How families help hide domestic violence In many cases, abuse… Read More Families who hide domestic violence

Unreported domestic abuse

Here’s a clear, evidence-based explanation of the issue of unreported domestic violence leading to homicide, especially as it applies in Europe and similar contexts: 🔍 1. Most domestic violence is never reported Research and surveys consistently show that a large proportion of domestic abuse never gets reported to authorities. In England and Wales, for example, it’s estimated that less than one in… Read More Unreported domestic abuse

European figures

Here’s a fact-based overview of figures in Europe on intimate partner/family-related homicides — the closest available comparable data to “murders related to divorce” (official statistics rarely classify homicides by divorce status specifically, but many do by relationship with the perpetrator).  🧠 1. Intimate partner and family-related homicides in the EU (2023) 📌 Rate per million women:In 2023, across the European Union: This… Read More European figures

Divorce related murder

Here’s what evidence from official data and research actually shows about the idea that murders related to divorce are increasing — the picture is more complex than the narrative that “divorce-related murder is rising everywhere”: 📊 1. Domestic homicide (including after separation/divorce) is a real risk — but not clearly rising overall ⚠️ 2. Post-separation / divorce violence is a documented danger 📉 3.… Read More Divorce related murder

Learned control

Therapy often fails with abusers not because therapy is weak, but because abuse is not a skills deficit or an emotional misunderstanding. It is a rewarded, reinforced behavioural system. Neuroscience makes this very clear. 1. Abuse is not loss of control — it is learned control Most abusers do not lose control in therapy-relevant ways. Neurologically: Therapy is designed for people… Read More Learned control