Enslaved in Plain Sight: The Intersection of Domestic Violence and Modern Slavery Through Space, Time and Technology
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Updated: 4 hours ago
By Tansy Hobson,
London Metropolitan University.
This dissertation argues that domestic abuse can be more effectively understood through the lens of modern slavery as both involve a sustained system of coercion and restricted autonomy. Rather than treating domestic abuse as a series of isolated incidents, this dissertation reconceptualises coercive control as a multifaceted form of domination that is enacted through time, space and technology. Using a secondary qualitative research approach, it draws on criminological theory, policy documents and research on technology-facilitated abuse to examine how victims become entrapped in conditions that resemble exploitation, even in the absence of physical confinement. It first examines the concept of spatial control, looking at how the home can be transformed from a place of safety into one where movement and perceived escape are restricted. It then develops the concept of chronological control to show how perpetrators manipulate time and exhaustion to limit victims’ capacity for resistance and future planning. Finally, it analyses technological control, demonstrating how digital systems and surveillance tools extend coercion beyond physical proximity.
By bringing these dimensions together, this dissertation directly challenges the institutional separation between domestic abuse and modern slavery. It argues that criminal justice frameworks remain limited by incident-based models of harm, which often fail to recognise cumulative and non-physical forms of control. Reframing domestic abuse through modern slavery therefore offers a more expansive understanding of coercive control as a sustained system of exploitation. This has significant implications for policy and victim protection, particularly in developing responses that recognise patterns of continuous control, rather than isolated acts of violence.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21455046