Harrowing details of women and children whose lives have been blighted by controlling partners have emerged on the day ground-breaking new domestic abuse legislation comes into force.

Examples of psychological and controlling abuse revealed by Police Scotland include incidences of women being deliberately threatened and intimidated in their homes, from the woman whose children were not allowed to call her “mum” to others banned from locking the toilet door, wearing make-up and timed during trips to the local shop.

Case study: 'He'd say I'd embarrassed him on a night out and twisted my friendships' 

A common theme encountered by officers seconded to the force’s Domestic Abuse Task Force involves women being systematically isolated from family and friends – in some cases moved to distant locations to be held almost as hostages in their homes, and denied access to money, a phone and support.

In certain cases, even family pets became drawn into the abuse, with victims forced to comply with unreasonable demands or risk the animals being harmed. In others, officers have encountered women who, even decades after leaving the abusive relationship, still carry the psychological scars of their trauma.

The range of insidious abuses encountered by officers on the frontline of the task force paints a disturbing picture of victims living lives of fear and misery and, until now, with no hope of legal support to act as a deterrent or ultimately prosecute their abuser.

Read more: Lawyer plagued with hate mail after Rangers 'domestic abuse' TV comment

From today police in Scotland will be able to gather evidence of controlling behaviour in the home, with the risk to perpetrators of up to 14 years behind bars for aggravated cases involving children.

The new Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill has been described as “landmark legislation” and is said to place Scotland as a world leader in tackling a previously hidden feature of domestic abuse.

A key element is the acceptance that victims may not have physical injuries, and that police may have to gather layers of evidence from friends, family, financial and telephone records for prosecutors to obtain a conviction.

Dr Jennifer Jones, the Glasgow-based social media academic, said the psychological abuse she suffered at the hands of her ex-partner left deep and lasting scars.

“I ended up having counselling,” she said. “It affected my relationships outside and in the workplace because you create rules to survive and tell yourself that is the way it is.”

The launch of the new law is accompanied by a major Scottish Government campaign to raise understanding that coercive and controlling behaviour against a partner constitutes domestic abuse.

Read more: Domestic abuse incidents up for second year in a row

It is designed to speak directly to victims to help them recognise the signs and encourages them to seek support.

It includes a powerful television advert that uses personal and everyday objects being slowly removed from someone’s life to illustrate how controlling behaviour leaves victims segregated from the outside world and powerless.

Preparation for the new law has been accompanied by a series of intense training programmes for Police Scotland’s 22,000 staff,

including 14,000 officers and support staff. Training has also been given to 500 prosecutors, including all advocate deputes, and to victims’ support services.

Special emphasis has been placed on training frontline police in how to question potential victims to gain trust and identify signs of abuse, and to gather evidence from phone records, bank statements and family and friends.

While the legislation has been widely welcomed, concern has been raised in the past that it could be difficult to implement, with claims it puts police in an awkward position of evaluating what constitutes a “normal” relationship, and fears they could be used as pawns in family disagreements.

However, Assistant Chief Constable Gillian MacDonald, Crime and Protection lead for the force, said thorough training had been given to officers and staff to help them navigate the new laws.

She said: “In preparation for the change in law, our officers and staff have received further training on the dynamics of power and control in abusive relationship to help recognise the signs, identify investigative opportunities and to tackle the myths and misconceptions of abuse that still exist in our communities across Scotland.

“This new offence is ground-breaking. For the first time it will allow us to investigate and report, the full circumstances of an abusive relationship.

“We will be able to include evidence of coercive and controlling behaviours where it forms a pattern of abuse, often carried out alongside other insidious behaviours including physical and sexual abuse.”

The legislation is being supported by a £12m Scottish Government investment for a range of projects and initiatives. It includes £5.6m to support projects and frontline services that support women and children who have experienced domestic abuse and other forms of gender-based violence.

Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “The Domestic Abuse Act makes absolutely clear that coercive and controlling behaviour is domestic abuse and a crime.

“Scotland is leading the way with this ground-breaking legislation, which uniquely recognises the effect of domestic abuse on child victims as well as adults.”

He said he had met survivors who described how a “frightening and systematic pattern of psychological abuse had robbed them of their sense of self, the ability to make their own decisions, and isolated them from family and friends”.

He added: “No-one should be forced to live like that.”

Scottish Women’s Aid has received £166,000 of funds to train and develop resources aimed at helping victims.

Chief Executive Dr Marsha Scott, said: “This is a new gold standard of domestic abuse legislation. We are holding our breath and hoping that it does what it says on the tin.

“We have a great deal invested emotionally and professionally in this legislation – it means a huge amount to us.”

Alison Waugh, secretary for Abused Men In Scotland also welcomed the legislation.

She said: “This legislation is very relevant for men too. We have heard from men who have experienced coercive control at the hands of their partners. There are a lot of isolated men for whom this legislation is very welcome.”

Last year around 60,000 incidents of domestic abuse were recorded by police in Scotland, however only 44% resulted in the recording of at least one crime.

Four out of every five incidents had a female victim and a male accused, while overall 16% of victims were male.

While the new legislation extends the scope of what constitutes a domestic abuse crime, police and support organisations have indicated they do not expect a sudden spike in complaints, and instead believe the new law will take time to ‘bed in’ before the first cases emerge.

The legislation comes as new figures contained in the latest Scottish Crime and Justice Survey suggest psychological abuse in relationships is more common than physical abuse; 13.8% of people questioned reported they had experienced psychological abuse compared to 10.2% who had encountered physical abuse.