With the lockdown, what is clear is the lack of support available for parents who have children with someone who is now manipulating Child Arrangement Orders, causing huge anxiety.
This isn’t the extreme end of #coercivecontrol but it is still causing significant distress.
THREAD

My inbox has been full of parents worried that their ex is not socially distancing and putting their children at risk. Their ex has either not brought children back or they are worried that they will not.

I am also hearing of a huge increase in numbers of emails and phone calls being received, demanding information that is both disproportionate and intrusive.

It is at times like this that controlling exes will micromanage the movements of their former partners and children.

I have heard of exes turning up at the doorstep of their former partners or threatening to. Demands to video contact that has then caused a child distress and even new partners wading in to make a situation that was being managed much more likely to be untenable, if it escalates.

None of this is likely to be addressed by the police or the courts as this escalation is still considered below the threshold needed for it to be actioned, but the parents currently facing this need support to cope with their distress and it currently isn’t available.

What I’m currently hearing is:
- contact the police, if you’re worried.
- take it to court

Neither of these options are suitable for the onslaught of micro aggressions that someone with a controlling ex will face. What is needed is support to help manage the fear triggered.