In a new research report published today (17 July 2025), ‘Doing his job for him’: how the criminal justice system fails victims of coercive control who are accused of offending’, Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) presents the accounts of seven victims of coercive control who were unfairly criminalised as a result of their own experience of abuse and recommends reforms in law, policy and practice.
The research, conducted by CWJ and funded by The City Law School’s centre for justice reform, illustrates fundamental failings in the criminal justice system that lead to victims of coercive control being punished when they should have been protected.
‘Olivia’, then a serving police officer, was convicted of misconduct in public office and lost her job after her controlling ex-boyfriend, also a police officer, coerced her into giving him her password into the police computer system. Olivia’s mental health and career prospects have been severely damaged, which has in turn affected her young daughter.
‘Isabella’ was prosecuted for theft and fraud after her severely abusive and controlling partner used her bank account and phone number to sell stolen caravans. Proceedings were eventually dropped when prosecutors belatedly realised her ex-partner had been convicted of eight counts of rape against her. When Isabella was told the proceedings were going to be dropped, she explained to a Community Psychiatric Nurse she had been planning to commit suicide before her trial began.
‘Choum’, an Asian woman whose first language is not English, was subject to lengthy investigation by the police in response to repeated false allegations by her severely abusive and controlling white British ex-husband. He had subjected Choum to appalling coercive control including routine rapes and treated her as a servant. She reported him to the police but the matter was closed with no further action. No charges were brought against Choum, but her mental health was severely affected and she has since lost her job because of the police record of the allegations. She comments:
“It is very unfair. He abused me, controlled me, scared me…He flipped the case – he turned their attention on to me.”
Megan (her real name) is a survivor of coercive control who was prosecuted and ultimately acquitted for allegedly assisting her abusive ex-partner after he had murdered his cousin. She explains:
“I kind of resigned myself to the legal system carrying on what my ex-partner had done. I was still the one being blamed. I was being charged, I was being accused, and I felt like they were just doing his job for him really.”
All the survivors’ accounts detail common features of coercive control and its devastating impact on them and their families. As the accounts make clear, criminal justice responses which fail to protect victim/survivors and actually serve to punish them can effectively extend the perpetrator’s abuse. This compounds the damage already caused to the victim/survivor, leading to long-lasting additional harm.
The accounts uncover multiple failings in the criminal justice process, including:
Underlying failures by criminal justice practitioners to understand and successfully prosecute coercive control.
Lack of any effective defence for victims of coercive control who are accused of offending.
Police failures to gather, review and pass on evidence of coercive control experienced by suspects who are also victims.
Susceptibility of criminal justice practitioners to unfair stigmatisation of victims and manipulation by perpetrators of coercive control.
Failure by criminal justice practitioners to understand the particular barriers to justice faced by Black, Asian, minoritised and migrant victim/survivors who are accused of offending.
Delays in CPS decision making, failure to take account of written representations on behalf of victims accused of offending and no means of redress for defendants facing inappropriate prosecution decisions.
CWJ makes 11 recommendations for reform, including the introduction of an effective defence for victims of coercive control who are coerced into offending, and a joint police and CPS protocol for gathering, passing on and taking account of evidence of coercive control where a suspect in an offence may also be a victim.
Harriet Wistrich, Solicitor and CEO of CWJ, said:
“At a time when our criminal justice system is under great strain and many victims are unprotected and do not get justice, it is shocking that limited resources are used to prosecute such victims. A more informed and intelligent approach is urgently needed to ensure criminal justice action targets those that actually present a danger.”
Dr Cassandra Wiener, Associate Professor in Law and Co-Director of the centre for justice reform, said:
“This is important new research from CWJ. The recommendations will not in themselves ‘solve’ the problem of coercive control. But they will contribute to a criminal justice system that no longer shamefully colludes with abusers by punishing the victim survivors it has a duty to protect.”
ENDS
Notes:
All survivors’ names are pseudonyms unless otherwise indicated, to protect their privacy.
‘Doing his job for him’ builds on CWJ’s earlier research and Stop Criminalising Survivors film series by presenting detailed accounts from seven victim/survivors, exploring their experiences of being investigated and charged for alleged offending that took place in the context of their own experience of coercive control. Click here to read the full report; click here for the Executive Summary.
Nearly 70 per cent of women in prison or under probation supervision in the community in England and Wales are known to be victim/survivors of domestic abuse. For many this is directly linked to their offending. The true figure is likely to be higher because of barriers to women disclosing abuse.
The Domestic Abuse Commissioner has called on the government to introduce effective defences for victims of domestic abuse who are accused of offending. The recent Independent Sentencing Review encouraged the government to consider whether the availability of statutory defences may prevent victims of domestic abuse being unnecessarily criminalised. The government has indicated it has no current plans to introduce any new defence.
Centre for Women’s Justice is a lawyer-led charity. We carry out strategic litigation and work with frontline women’s sector organisations to challenge police and prosecution failings around violence against women and girls. Our evidence base is built on the experience of frontline women’s sector support workers discussed during our training sessions with them, the requests for legal advice they send to us, other enquiries and referrals we receive and our research. In 2024 we responded to 689 legal enquiries, including 410 in which we gave legal advice.
The centre for justice reform is an inter disciplinary research centre based at the City Law School and at the School of Policy and Global Affairs at City St Georges, University of London. It operates at the intersection of policy, research, practice and education to identify and resolve some of the most pressing issues in the criminal justice system.