From Entrapment to Recognition: Women’s Experience of Emprise in Intimate Partner Violence – A Qualitative Study

<title>Abstract</title> <p>Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) refers to any behavior within an intimate relationship (current or former) that causes physical, psychological, or sexual harm. While coercive control has been widely conceptualised as a pattern of domination exerted by perpetrators, less attention has been paid to women’s subjective experience of this process, described in the French context as emprise. The study aimed to explore how women experience emprise in intimate partner violence and how they come to recognise it over time. Methods: A qualitative study using an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) inspired approach was conducted in France between September 2020 and May 2021. Six women who had experienced and left IPV participated in in-depth interviews. Data were analysed using an IPA-inspired approach with investigator triangulation, allowing the identification of a dynamic model of emprise in intimate partner violence and its recognition. Results: Women’s narratives described emprise as a progressive and cumulative process emerging from early relational vulnerability, idealisation of the partner, and insidious coercive dynamics. This process led to emotional burden, self-blame, and normalisation of violence, which constrained awareness. Recognition of emprise developed gradually through doubts, contextual shifts, and “wake-up calls.” Beyond initial awareness, participants described a further process of recognition through identification, whereby external explanatory frameworks (from professionals, literature, or lived comparisons) enabled them to recognise their experience as part of identifiable patterns of coercive control. This process reduced self-blame and deepened understanding of their situation. Conclusion: Women’s recognition of emprise is a progressive process that extends beyond initial awareness of abuse. Explanatory frameworks facilitating recognition through identification may support meaning-making and recovery in IPV contexts and highlight opportunities for clinical intervention. Trial registration Not applicable.</p>