Use a safer contact route
If devices or accounts may be monitored, contact support from a safer phone, trusted device, or in-person route where possible.
Help Pathway
Control can be emotional, economic, digital, physical, or quiet.
Use this route when behaviour restricts choices, creates fear, isolates support, monitors movement, pressures money, or makes normal life smaller.
Name restrictions clearly
Record what choices were restricted, what pressure was used, who was involved, and whether children or adults at risk were affected.
Do not negotiate safety alone
When control is escalating, specialist advice can help avoid steps that accidentally increase risk.
National Domestic Abuse Helpline
Refuge runs the freephone 24-hour helpline on 0808 2000 247.
National Domestic Abuse Helpline - support servicesDomestic Abuse Act guidance
Official statutory guidance explains domestic abuse, including coercive, controlling, psychological, emotional, and economic abuse.
GOV.UK - Domestic Abuse Act statutory guidanceCoercive control guidance
Statutory guidance explains controlling or coercive behaviour and the importance of context and repeated behaviour.
GOV.UK - Controlling or coercive behaviour statutory guidanceCPS domestic abuse guidance
CPS guidance is useful for understanding public prosecution framing, not for self-diagnosing a case.
CPS - Domestic Abuse