“I Took the Charge”: Coercive Control, Legal Vulnerability, and Intimate Partner Violence Service Navigation Among Black Women Under Community Supervision: A Qualitative Study

Black women under community supervision who use drugs experience disproportionately high rates of intimate partner violence (IPV), yet little research has examined how intersecting identities related to race, sexual behavior, substance use, and criminal-legal involvement shape their experiences of IPV and access to services. Guided by Minority Stress Theory, this nested qualitative study explored patterns of IPV and service utilization among Black women under community supervision who have sex with women and men and participated in a prior randomized controlled trial in New York City. Fifteen in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted between July and September 2022 via Zoom with women who reported lifetime IPV and drug use. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a grounded, two-cycle coding approach. Participants described severe and overlapping forms of IPV perpetrated primarily by male partners, including physical, sexual, psychological, and financial abuse. Women also identified coercive tactics not routinely captured in standard IPV measures, including spiritual abuse and “taking a charge” for a partner to avoid his incarceration. Violence within relationships with female partners was often described as mutual or bidirectional. Criminal-legal supervision functioned as both a barrier and facilitator to help-seeking: fear of arrest, probation violations, and prior negative police interactions discouraged reporting, whereas supportive probation or parole officers sometimes facilitated access to services. Participants emphasized that traditional IPV services were insufficient without structural support such as housing, employment, and mental health care. Findings suggest that IPV among Black women under community supervision is embedded within intersecting structural vulnerabilities that shape both coercive control and service navigation. Implications include the need for culturally responsive IPV assessment tools, trauma-informed and holistic service models, and alternative pathways to safety that reduce reliance on law enforcement systems. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02391233 ( https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02391233 )