what is darvo

DARVO is an acronym that stands for "Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender." It is a manipulative tactic often used by abusers to avoid accountability for their actions. The perpetrator may deny the behavior, attack the individual doing the confronting, and reverse the roles of victim and offender such that the perpetrator assumes the victim role and turns the true victim into an alleged offender. DARVO is a common manipulation strategy of psychological abusers. It can be difficult to recognize an abuser using the DARVO tactic when you are a survivor in the middle of it. The point of DARVO is not to convince but to seed doubt. The abuser does not require the surrounding community to fully and completely validate them as the true victim of the abuse, though they certainly see it as a bonus.