Glossary of Terms

Coercive control is a pattern of behaviour used by one person to dominate, isolate and control an intimate partner over time. It is not a single incident. It is an ongoing state created through the accumulation of many behaviours, each of which may seem minor in isolation but together create an environment of fear, restriction and dependency.

Coercive control does not require physical violence. It can include isolation from friends and family, monitoring movements and communications, financial restriction, psychological manipulation, degradation and the use of children as tools of control.

Many women living with coercive control do not recognise it as abuse because there is no visible violence and the pattern develops gradually. One of its defining features is that it is hard to name, especially from the inside.

I know something is wrong but I cannot explain it to anyone. Even to myself.

See also: Read more about coercive control | What Is Financial Abuse?

Financial abuse is a form of domestic violence in which one partner controls, restricts or manipulates the other's access to money, financial information or economic resources. It is recognised under Australian law as a form of family violence.

Financial abuse does not require your partner to be the sole earner. It operates through exclusion, monitoring, restriction and the deliberate erosion of financial knowledge and confidence. It can occur when both partners work, when the targeted person earns more, and when the relationship appears financially normal from the outside.

Common forms include controlling what money a partner can spend, requiring justification for purchases, excluding a partner from financial information and decisions, sabotaging employment, running up debt in a partner's name and using financial threats around leaving.

I earn it but I have to justify every cent of it.

See also: Read more about financial abuse

Post-separation abuse refers to the continuation of controlling, coercive or abusive behaviour after a relationship has ended. Separation does not automatically end the pattern of abuse. Because direct access to the partner is reduced, the methods change.

Post-separation abuse most commonly operates through custody and parenting arrangements, child support, legal proceedings used as harassment, ongoing financial control, technology and continued monitoring. For many women, leaving begins a different phase of the same control rather than ending it.

Post-separation abuse is recognised under Australian family violence law and can be taken into account in family law proceedings.

I left him. He did not leave me alone.

See also: After Leaving

A Domestic Violence Order (DVO) is a legal order issued by a court that places conditions on the behaviour of a person who has used or threatened violence, or engaged in coercive control, against a partner or family member. DVOs are civil orders, meaning they can be obtained without the person being criminally charged.

In New South Wales, these are called Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders (ADVOs). An ADVO can prohibit a person from approaching, contacting, intimidating or threatening the protected person. It can also include conditions about property and children.

An ADVO can be applied for by the person experiencing violence, by police on their behalf, or issued automatically when police attend a domestic violence incident. Breaching an ADVO is a criminal offence.

I did not know I could get one without him being charged. I did not know police could apply on my behalf.

A safety plan is a personalised, practical plan developed to help a woman experiencing domestic violence increase her safety in her current situation and prepare for leaving when the time is right for her.

A safety plan is not a plan to leave immediately. It is a preparation that happens over time and covers things like: identifying safe people to contact, knowing what documents to gather and where to keep them, understanding what money is accessible, planning safe routes out of the home, arranging a safe place to go, and identifying warning signs that indicate the situation is escalating.

Safety planning is a core part of what Her Pathway Forward does. Every woman's safety plan is different because every situation is different.

I did not know what a safety plan was until someone sat with me and helped me build one. It changed everything.

See also: How Her Pathway Forward works

Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse in which a person deliberately causes another to question their own memory, perception and sense of reality. The term comes from a 1944 film in which a husband manipulates his wife into believing she is losing her mind.

In the context of domestic violence, gaslighting involves consistently telling a partner that events did not happen the way they remember, that they are too sensitive, that they are imagining things, or that they are mentally unstable. Over time this erodes confidence and makes it harder for the targeted person to trust their own judgment about what is happening in the relationship.

Gaslighting is one of the most effective tools of coercive control because it operates invisibly and makes the targeted person doubt the validity of their own experience.

The night before he said things I will never unhear. The next morning he walked in, said good morning like nothing had happened, and then asked me why I was so grumpy. And somehow I am the one who ended up apologising.

See also: What Is Coercive Control?

Economic abuse is the broader category that encompasses financial abuse. It refers to any behaviour that controls, restricts or undermines a person's ability to acquire, use or maintain economic resources.

Economic abuse includes financial abuse but also extends to: sabotaging employment by causing a partner to be late, absent or unable to perform at work; preventing a partner from studying or advancing their career; creating financial dependency; damaging credit ratings; and using financial systems and legal proceedings as tools of ongoing control after separation.

Economic abuse is recognised under Australian family violence law and is increasingly understood as one of the most powerful mechanisms of coercive control because it limits the practical ability to leave.

I have a salary. I have qualifications. I have a career. And I had less financial freedom than anyone I knew.

See also: What Is Financial Abuse?

A navigation service is a form of support that sits between a woman experiencing domestic violence and the many services, systems and professionals she needs to engage with. It is not counselling, legal advice, financial advice or crisis intervention. It is practical coordination.

A navigation service helps a woman understand what options exist, what steps are available to her, which professionals she needs to speak to and in what order, what documents she needs to gather, and how to move through the process of leaving and rebuilding without having to figure all of that out alone.

Her Pathway Forward is a specialist navigation service. It exists because the coordination layer, the person who walks beside you through the systems, was missing from the support landscape for professional women navigating domestic violence.

I needed someone to help me understand what I was supposed to do next. Not to tell me how to feel. To help me figure out what to do.

See also: What We Do | For Women