'My therapist said I was repeating a pattern'

A relative began controlling Richa Raval’s friendships when she was growing up, threatening violence if she disobeyed.

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Richa, now 31, says: “It was my first experience of coercive control. It was extremely traumatic but I didn’t realise the impact until I left.”

On moving to the US to study aged 17, she had nightmares, lost her appetite and her weight plummeted to 6st 6lb.

At 21, Richa fell for a man at university. She says: “In the beginning, he seemed very charming. He showered me with affection and attention. But he was also extremely intense and controlling. He wanted to talk constantly. If I didn’t reply for an hour, he would say, ‘I feel disconnection.’”