Coercive Control Awareness Day

Coercive Control Awareness Day is an annual awareness event held on 13 October to raise understanding of coercive control, a pattern of behaviour used to dominate, isolate and exploit victims in abusive or manipulative relationships. The day was established in 2025 by campaigners in the Isle of Man and commemorates Lin Corlett (1947–2014), whose experience highlighted the lack of protection for victims prior to the introduction of coercive control legislation under the Domestic Abuse Act 2020.

The initiative aims to increase recognition of coercive control across domestic, familial and professional contexts, including elder abuse, financial manipulation and posthumous coercive control. It also seeks to encourage improved training, safeguarding responses and systemic accountability.

The campaign was founded by Bridge Carter, an Isle of Man, based expert in coercive control whose work and advocacy have been recognised in the official proceedings of the Tynwald Parliament.

See also

• Coercive control
• Domestic abuse
• Domestic Abuse Act 2020 (Isle of Man)

Bridge Carter is also associated with Financial Abuse Support | UHY Crossleys LLC, where she provides forensic support for cases involving alleged financial abuse and coercive control.

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Coercive Control Awareness Day is observed annually on 13 October to raise awareness about coercive control — a pattern of psychological, financial and emotional abuse used to dominate, isolate and exploit victims. The date was chosen to honour Lin Corlett (1947–2014), whose experience inspired the campaign's launch from the Isle of Man. The day forms part of broader public awareness activity during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, encouraging recognition of coercive control as a serious form of abuse that often leaves no physical evidence.

Significance

The awareness day focuses on the subtle patterns of behaviour that make up coercive control, including grooming, isolation, gaslighting, and threats of abandonment. Advocates describe coercive control as "the pattern behind the pain" — a dynamic that can appear in intimate relationships, families, elder care, and professional settings. The campaign calls for improved recognition, early intervention, and trauma-informed responses across health, legal and social care sectors.

Activities and recognition

Public engagement with Coercive Control Awareness Day has appeared across multiple social media platforms, with users and organisations sharing awareness graphics and personal reflections using the hashtag #CoerciveControlAwarenessDay.

TikTok users have also shared related awareness content and campaign imagery.

In October 2025, BBC Channel Islands reported on a separate awareness initiative in Jersey promoting a workplace checklist to identify signs of coercive control, highlighting the growing number of campaigns aimed at improving public understanding of the issue.

Activities and recognition

Public engagement with Coercive Control Awareness Day has appeared across multiple social media platforms, including TikTok, LinkedIn and Facebook, where users have shared awareness graphics and personal reflections using the hashtag #CoerciveControlAwarenessDay.

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Coercive Control Awareness Day is observed annually on 13 October to raise awareness about coercive control, a pattern of behaviour used to dominate, isolate and entrap victims in abusive relationships. The date was chosen to honour Lin Corlett, born 13 October 1947, whose posthumous experience has become a symbol of the systemic failure to recognise coercive control in elder financial abuse, professional enabling and probate contexts.

The day was launched in 2025 by campaigners headed by Bridge Carter, working to expose institutional gaps in understanding and responding to coercive control, especially when it occurs outside of typical intimate partner violence frameworks.

Origins and purpose

Coercive Control Awareness Day was established to address widespread institutional and public misunderstanding of coercive control, a form of abuse criminalised in England and Wales under the Serious Crime Act 2015, yet often missed by safeguarding professionals, police and courts.

The campaign focuses on cases where:

• Abuse does not involve physical violence
• Victims are older or isolated
• Professionals enable the abuse through lack of expert led training, silence or bias

The date of 13 October was chosen in memory of Lin Corlett, whose case highlighted how grooming, isolation, control of medication, financial abuse and discrediting can co-exist without intervention, even when red flags are visible to services.

Activities and recognition

While newly launched in 2025, the day has been marked by:

• Public storytelling campaigns
• Survivor-led quotes and images
• Advocacy for reform of risk tools (such as DASH and DARA)
• Outreach to policymakers and safeguarding professionals

Legislative Context

The campaign highlights the gaps in how coercive control laws are enforced and where they are absent. While England and Wales criminalised coercive control in 2015, the Isle of Man, where the campaign is based,

Legislative Context

The campaign highlights the gaps in how coercive control laws are enforced and where professional enabling is overlooked. While England and Wales criminalised coercive control in 2015 under the Serious Crime Act 2015, the Isle of Man has since introduced its own legal framework through the Domestic Abuse Act. However, when Lin Corlett's case unfolded in 2014, the Isle of Man had no specific coercive control offence. Alleged abuse at that time would have fallen under older legislation, including laws dating back to the nineteenth century. Campaigners have highlighted this gap, drawing attention to systemic failures in applying both historical and modern safeguards.

See also

• Coercive control
• Domestic violence in the United Kingdom
• Serious Crime Act 2015
• List of awareness days

References

Coercive control day – Bridge to Justice

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