Is it coercive control? / HAR / HAR-3
HAR-3
Non-consensual distribution or threat of private or intimate images
Definition
Creating, sharing, threatening to share, or otherwise weaponizing private, intimate, or sexual images or recordings of the target without consent. This form of image-based abuse functions to destroy privacy, induce fear of exposure, and compel compliance by converting the target's body and history into instruments of control.
How it operates
Non-consensual distribution of intimate images to third parties or online platforms. Sending previously private images back to the target as a reminder of power. Pressure or coercion to create additional images under threat of prior material being released.
Function
Destroy privacy, induce fear of exposure, and compel compliance by converting the target's body and history into instruments of control.
Harm
Destroyed privacy, fear of exposure, and compelled compliance under threat of intimate-image release.
Why this is coercive control
Consensual sharing within the original intended audience with no subsequent non-consensual distribution or threat; ordinary non-intimate photographs shared without a control or exposure frame. The conduct here destroys privacy, induces fear of exposure, and compels compliance by converting the target's body and history into instruments of control.
Constructed example
“Look what I found online" after content is posted; "I still have those photos from last year. It would be a shame if your workplace or the kids' school saw them.”
Fictitious. Written to illustrate the behavior. Not a case.
Dragiewicz et al. 2018; Henry et al. 2023; Woodlock 2017.
Literature this family is drawn from
- Harris, B., & Woodlock, D. (2019). Digital coercive control: Insights from two landmark domestic violence studies. The British Journal of Criminology, 59(3), 530-550.
- Forensic linguistic evidence of psychological abuse and discursive manipulation in cyberstalking cases. Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict (2026).
Identifying a behavior described here does not establish a pattern of behavior and does not establish coercive control. A tactic is not a regime. The instrument consolidates peer-reviewed literature so a reader can check when in doubt. The instrument is not a coding manual. Carlton Research does not provide the instrument as a weapon.
© 2026 Carisa Carlton.
Carlton, C. (2026). Is it coercive control?: HAR-3. Carlton Research Instruments. /codebook/har-3. Last reviewed August 31, 2026.