Lisa Fontes
Senior Lecturer II, UWW Interdisciplinary Studies University of Massachusetts Amherst
- Amherst MA
Lisa Fontes is an international leader in the understanding of intimate partner violence, or coercive control.
University of Massachusetts Amherst
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Expertise
Biography
Her comments are frequently sought by media organizations to discuss issues ranging from the sexual abuse of children to intimate partner violence
Fontes is the author of the books: Invisible Chains: Overcoming Coercive Control in Your Intimate Relationship, Interviewing Clients Across Cultures, and Child Abuse and Culture. Her books have sold over 50,000 copies, and been translated into Spanish, Korean, Japanese, and two forms of Chinese.
Video
Education
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Ph.D.
Counseling Psychology
New York University
M.A.
Psychology
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
M.S.
Journalism
Cornell University
B.A.
Romance Languages & Literature
Select Recent Media Coverage
Massachusetts lawmakers unanimously vote to criminalize revenge porn
WGBH radio
2024-06-14
Lisa Fontes comments on the Massachusetts Senate’s decision to criminalize the sharing of intimate or sexually explicit images without the subject’s consent. “Revenge porn—controlling and harming you through posting images—is an extension of coercive control,” she says.
Fears of violence on Mass. campuses are silencing many on Israel-Hamas war
MassLive print
2023-11-30
Commenting about discussion of the Israel-Hamas war, Lisa Fontes says, "The rhetoric is very inflamed. A false dichotomy has been created, applying ideas from the United States inappropriately to that region of the Middle East. It’s seen as one side being Jews equal Israelis equal white equal settler colonialists equal bad, and on the other side, Palestinian equal Hamas equal people of color equal indigenous people equal good. That is a complete oversimplification and distortion of the situation.”
California Court Grants Restraining Order Based on Coercive Control
Ms. Magazine online
2023-08-31
“The judge essentially said, ‘A marriage license does not give a person permission to subjugate their spouse,'” said Lisa Fontes of the landmark ruling against coercive control, a type of domestic violence.
'They Knew': Legal Battle Over a Los Gatos Elementary School's Failure to Prevent Sexual Abuse Could Go to Trial
KQED online
2022-10-12
Psychologist Lisa Fontes said the complaints made to Blossom Hill Elementary around touching should not have been handled internally by the school. Instead, she said, schools should notify outside agencies to conduct an investigation. “Not the parent. Not the school,” Fontes said. “Think of how much power an elementary school teacher has over a child. A child is not apt to resist touch, is not apt to question [the teacher], even if they make them uncomfortable.”
Mass. lawmakers consider expanding definition of domestic abuse to include financial and mental abuse
WBUR radio
2022-04-11
Lisa Fontes is a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, who has written a book about this kind of abuse. "If there’s no physical abuse some people might say, 'Oh, well, it's just not the best relationship,'" she said. "But it's something much more profound than that. Coercive control is really taking away the liberty of another person."
Columnist Carrie N. Baker: Invisible abuse: Ending coercive control in intimate relationships
Daily Hamshire Gazette online
2021-04-21
“Coercive control deprives people — mostly women — of their liberty,” says Dr. Lisa Aronson Fontes, a University of Massachusetts professor and author of “Invisible Chains: Overcoming Coercive Control in Your Intimate Relationship.” “The freedoms that every human being should enjoy — to make the small and large decisions about her life — are not accessible to a victim of coercive control. She is hostage to the whims of her partner.”
Domestic abuse isn’t always physical in nature
CommonWealth Magazine online
2023-06-14
In 2022, there were 26 domestic violence-related homicides in Massachusetts—a more than 40 percent increase over 2021. Lisa Aronson Fontes, a senior lecturer at UMass Amherst and author of the book Invisible Chains: Overcoming Coercive Control in Your Intimate Relationship, asserts that almost all domestic homicides are preceded by coercive control and that coercive control is a better predictor of domestic homicide than previous violent assaults.
Select Publications
Guest columnist Lisa Aronson Fontes: Let all people be free — including at home
Daily Hampshire GazetteLisa Aronson Fontes
2023-04-06
It is hard to watch someone we care about suffer at the hands of a controlling partner or ex-partner. Long-term patterns of abuse and control usually require long-term support. Isolation poses the greatest risk for targets of coercive control. Simply staying in contact helps the person feel valued, capable and less alone, counteracting some of the abuser’s messages.
Twice Silenced: The Underreporting of Child Sexual Abuse in Orthodox Jewish Communities
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse2017-09-19
Child sexual abuse remains an underreported crime throughout the world, despite extensive research and resources dedicated both to improving investigative techniques and helping children disclose their experiences. The discovery of rampant cover-ups within the Catholic Church has exposed some of the ways religious and cultural issues can impede reporting to authorities.
Invisible Chains: Overcoming Coercive Control in Your Intimate Relationship
Book - The Guilford PressLisa Aronson Fontes
2015-03-10
When you are showered with attention, it can feel incredibly romantic and can blind you to hints of problems ahead. But what happens when attentiveness becomes domination? In some relationships, the desire to control leads to jealousy, gaslighting, threats, micromanaging--even physical violence. If you or someone you care about are trapped in a web of coercive control, this book provides answers, hope, and a way out.
