Understanding domestic violence tactics

The Power and Control Wheel is a tool used in domestic violence services to understand how abusers gain control over their victims.

It illustrates the eight types of abusive tactics connected to physical and sexual violence, or the threat of such violence.

The Power and Control Wheel

This tool helps shift responsibility to abusers and provides insights into how to support survivors better.

Coercion and threats

Coercion involves forcing or pressuring someone to do something against their will. This can include threats of harm, violence, or leaving the relationship, and it often extends to emotional blackmail, such as threatening to commit suicide. It can also involve forcing her to do illegal activities or making her drop charges.

Economic abuse

Economic abuse occurs when someone controls another person’s financial resources. This might involve preventing her from working, taking her money, giving her an allowance, or restricting her access to family income. The abuser uses this control to create dependency, making it difficult for the victim to leave the relationship.

Male privilege

Male privilege is when a man assumes authority over a woman, treating her as a subordinate or servant. This can mean making all significant decisions, acting like the “master of the castle,” and determining traditional roles for men and women. The aim is to establish dominance and reinforce unequal power dynamics.

Using children

Abusers often use children as pawns to control or manipulate their partners. This can involve making her feel guilty, using the children to relay messages, or threatening to take them away. Harassment during visitation or using children as leverage are common tactics to maintain power and control.

Intimidation

Intimidation is designed to create fear and compliance. Abusers may use threatening looks, gestures, or actions, and they might smash things, destroy property, or abuse pets. The goal is to instil fear and keep the victim in a state of anxiety and insecurity.

Emotional abuse

Emotional abuse is a way to undermine someone’s self-worth and confidence. This can include name-calling, belittling, playing mind games, and humiliating the victim. The abuser aims to make her feel guilty, worthless, or crazy, eroding her sense of identity and independence.

Isolation

Isolation restricts the victim’s contact with the outside world. The abuser controls who she can see or talk to, where she can go, or what she can read. They often use jealousy as an excuse for these actions, creating a sense of dependency and limiting her support network.

Minimising, denying, and blaming

Abusers often minimise or deny their abusive behaviour, making light of the abuse or claiming it didn’t happen. They may shift responsibility, suggesting the victim caused the abuse or was at fault. This tactic is designed to invalidate the victim’s feelings and avoid accountability.