The French National Assembly on Monday examined a proposed amendment to criminalize coercive control, a form of domestic abuse already punishable in the United Kingdom since 2015 — where, a decade on, the measure has produced just a fraction of the convictions its advocates had hoped for.
A Landmark Offense With Limited Reach
Coercive control is defined as a pattern of behavior used to dominate, isolate, surveil, or exert sustained psychological pressure over a current or former partner. In the UK, the offense carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment.
Yet in England and Wales, despite roughly 50,000 coercive control offenses recorded in a single year, only 853 convictions were handed down in 2024 — barely 5% of reported cases.
A Survivor’s Testimony
For Ruth Dodsworth, a well-known weather presenter in Wales, the law proved transformative. For ten years, she lived under the control of her husband, who monitored her constantly.
“I had to show him my phone. And if I was traveling for a shoot with someone, I had to FaceTime him to prove I was with the person I said I was with,” she recounted. “I didn’t realize that over the years, I had lost contact with my friends and my own family.”
The domination gradually escalated into physical violence. Dodsworth credits the coercive control offense with saving her life.
“If the police hadn’t listened to me, if they hadn’t recognized the signs of coercive control, I wouldn’t be here today talking to you,” she said. “It’s a genuine lifeline. It gave me my life back.” Her husband was sentenced to three years in prison.
Prosecution Hurdles Persist
Despite the law’s intent, securing a conviction remains difficult. Family law attorney Tessa Bray acknowledged the obstacles survivors face.
“A person can go through the entire process — go to the police, report the facts, testify in court against their ex-partner — and despite all that, that person may not get a conviction,” Bray said.
The gap between reported cases and successful prosecutions highlights the challenges of proving a pattern of controlling behavior in court, where evidence is often psychological and cumulative rather than physical and immediate.
What’s at Stake for France
As French lawmakers weigh adding coercive control to the statute books, the UK experience offers both a template and a cautionary tale: legislation alone does not guarantee protection, and the effectiveness of such laws depends heavily on police training, prosecutorial resources, and judicial understanding of the dynamics of domestic abuse.
The amendment is being debated as part of France’s broader comprehensive bill against sexist and sexual violence.
