Member

One reason that it is so pernicious is that those who are subject to coercive and controlling behaviour as part of domestic violence by definition do not acknowledge or admit to it, because the person who is exercising that coercion or control—that bullying, that violence—is in a position not just to intimidate but then to punish the individual who chooses to speak out. That is why the point made by my noble friend Lady Berridge was so important, and it is why it is vital that we have training among medical practitioners and others. A victim of domestic abuse or violence may well say that they willingly assent to certain treatments, because the nature of the domestic relationship is so toxic and the nature of coercion and control so malign that, even in those circumstances, their fear of the consequences will lead them to mask their true feelings.