This chapter begins by introducing the reader to the Panopticon effect and how the concept, as a theoretical tool, can be used to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of coercive control as a gendered form of domestic violence. Through a close reading of Judith Butler's (1990, 2004) theories on gender performativity, normative violence, precarity and vulnerability, this chapter argues that violence is a discursive project which produces and reinscribes specific theories, politics and gendered identities which effectively conceal relations of power, control and domination enacted out against already precarious bodies and lives. Further, it argues that late-modern forms of social practices such as heteronormative relationships and sexual and marital norms regularly reinforce expressions of violence, control mechanisms and strategic instruments of discipline and surveillance through normalised and naturalised gendered performances. In this way, individual subjects are not only the effect of specific historical and cultural practices and relations of power of which gender necessarily forms a part, but gender performativity further enables and shapes everyday power relations which masks acts of coercive control. Through a rethinking of power, gender and the protected status of violence, this chapter reveals how acts of violence regularly play out within personal, everyday lifeworlds including the most private and intimate relationships. This chapter concludes by exploring how the contribution of the Panopticon effect, influenced by Butler's theoretical insights, offers an important contribution to social work theory, teaching and practice to facilitate the emancipatory transformation of individuals and societies.