Intimate Partner Violence: Assessing Coercive Control Awareness in a Singaporean Sample

Faythe Tan

Coercive control (CC) is a subtle but pervasive form of intimate partner violence (IPV) which remains under-recognised despite its serious and lasting impact on victim/survivors. Understanding how the public perceives CC is critical for improving early identification, intervention and policy development. This study examined public awareness and perceptions of CC within the Singaporean context, replicating the original study conducted in Northern Ireland (Lagdon et al.,2023). Using a quasi-experimental vignette design, 333 Singaporean adults completed an anonymous online survey presenting obvious and less obvious CC scenarios, varying by victim-survivor gender. Logistic regression and split-plot ANCOVA analyses explored demographic predictors of CC awareness and attitudinal responses. Results indicated that general awareness of CC was moderate, with 40.4% of participants reporting that they had heard of the term and understood its meaning. Ethnicity significantly predicted awareness (p < .01), with non-Chinese respondents more likely to recognise the term than Chinese respondents. Participants rated obvious CC scenarios as significantly more abusive and criminal than less obvious scenarios (p < .001) and higher agreement across multiple items when the victim-survivor was female, p values ranging from < .001 to .003.These findings highlight gendered and cultural influences on perceptions of coercive control in Singapore. Public education and awareness campaigns may need to explicitly address subtle forms of control and the experiences of male victim-survivors. Broader policy and community initiatives should emphasise inclusivity, early recognition and the criminal nature of coercive behaviours to enhance protection for all individuals experiencing coercive control.

Intimate Partner Violence: Assessing Coercive Control Awareness in a Singaporean Sample

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