20/10/2026
Could recognising the language of coercive control help reduce the risk of misidentifying the person responsible for harm?
Coercive control can be hidden in everyday language—demands framed as care and restrictions justified as protection.
Maggie’s Legacy’s Tentacles of Obligation framework looks beyond individual red flags to make connected patterns tangible: how requests become conditions, obligations and restrictions on choice.
It offers language for experiences some victim-survivors struggle to articulate—the recognition that can be expressed as: “This is exactly what I have been managing.”
For domestic violence responders, this could support more focused questioning and clearer documentation, helping distinguish an immediate reaction from responsibility for an ongoing pattern of abuse.
A human eye remains essential. Neither the framework nor AI determines guilt. Each person’s account, the wider context, evidence and professional judgement must guide assessment.
