ASK PROFESSOR TANYA BYRON
I think my friend is being coercively controlled and financially abused by her husband
The Times
Q. I am worried about a friend who I fear may be suffering from coercive control but possibly not in the usual way.
She is a successful businesswoman. Her husband has over the years forced her to pay for everything, including school fees and day-to-day living expenses for the whole family, and kept all he has earned (probably a lot) for himself.
She has paid for the rental of weekend homes, where he resides full-time. She says she can’t change any of this as she is scared of his temper.
Is this coercive control? And what, if anything, can I do to help her?
Ava
A. There is no doubt that your friend is a victim of financial, psychological and emotional domestic abuse. All abuse
