Is it coercive control? / SEXC / SEXC-2

SEXC-2

Punishment or retaliation for refusal

Definition

Withdrawal of affection, rage, accusations of infidelity or frigidity, sulking, or other sanctions explicitly or clearly linked to the target's refusal of sex.

How it operates

Cold silence, rage, or accusations that follow refusal. Threats to seek sex elsewhere framed as the target's fault. Linking sexual non-compliance to broader relationship punishment.

Function

Trains the target that bodily refusal carries relational and emotional cost, thereby conditioning future compliance.

Harm

Converts ordinary refusal into a punishable offense and installs anticipatory dread around sexual decision-making.

Why this is coercive control

Ordinary disappointment expressed without sanction or character attack; genuine mutual renegotiation of sexual frequency. The conduct here trains the target that bodily refusal carries relational and emotional cost, thereby conditioning future compliance.

Constructed example

Since apparently I disgust you, don't expect me at your mother's thing on Sunday.

Fictitious. Written to illustrate the behavior. Not a case.

Stark 2007.

Literature this family is drawn from

  • Stark, E. (2007). Coercive control: How men entrap women in personal life. Oxford University Press.

Literature map

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.

How to cite

Carlton, C. (2026). Is it coercive control?: SEXC-2. Carlton Research Instruments. /codebook/sexc-2. Last reviewed August 31, 2026.