Coercive control is an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim. Coercive control is a range of behaviours that enable a perpetrator to maintain or regain control of a partner, ex-partner or family member/s. It may involve acts of assault, humiliation, intimidation or threat to instil fear. It can be difficult to describe as one incident because it is usually a spectrum of behaviours to control and maintain fear.