Man sentenced to ten months' imprisonment for psychological abuse after relationship ended – judgment establishes the concept of "continuation abuse"
A Norwegian court has sentenced a man to ten months' unconditional imprisonment for psychological abuse of his ex-partner following the end of their relationship. The judgment recognises the phenomenon of "continuation abuse", where control and threats continue through shared children, finances and
Man sentenced to ten months' imprisonment for psychological abuse after relationship ended – judgment establishes the concept of "continuation abuse"
A Norwegian district court has delivered a judgment in a case concerning psychological abuse in intimate relationships, where the abuse continued after the end of the relationship. The court sentenced the man to ten months' unconditional imprisonment and issued a contact ban against the woman for two years and against the couple's shared children for one year. This is reported by Avisa Nordland.
The case concerns what is described in research as "continuation abuse" or post-separation abuse. The woman wished to end the relationship, but according to the judgment, this was followed by threats, demands, economic pressure, suicide threats and attempts to control her through the children.
The court found it proven that the man had subjected the woman to an extensive regime of psychological abuse. He threatened that everything would become worse, that she did not know what would happen, and that he could "punish" her through the children. In addition, he was convicted of six breaches of a visit ban and two counts of making threats directed at the children.
The prosecutor had requested one year and two months' unconditional imprisonment, while the defence counsel had argued for acquittal or six months' imprisonment, possibly as community service. The court thus chose a middle ground of ten months.
The man was acquitted of abusing the children under section 282 of the criminal code, but the court nevertheless imposed a contact ban against them for one year. Contact is only permitted under supervised visitation. The court thus assessed that the children should be protected against the risk posed by the man, even though they were not considered directly abused in the narrow sense of the law.
During the case, the man had argued that it was actually the woman who had subjected him to psychological and physical abuse. The court clearly rejected this and found that there were no traces of abuse from her side. According to the court, messages, documents and witness statements showed that it was the man who made threats and applied pressure.
The judgment is noteworthy because there are still few convictions where someone is sentenced solely for psychological abuse. The court explicitly established that the regime to which the man subjected the woman constituted abuse in intimate relationships – even without bruising. At the time of writing, it had not yet been clarified whether the judgment would be appealed.
The concept of continuation abuse describes how violence and control often continue or escalate after the breakdown of a relationship, particularly when the perpetrator of violence experiences a loss of control. Research indicates that the phenomenon affects both women and men. When the parties have shared children, the abuse becomes particularly brutal, because the person who leaves cannot disappear entirely from the other person's life.
Source: Google News DK — Crime (da)