DARVO

English

Etymology

Acronym of “Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender”. Coined by Jennifer J. Freyd in “Violations of power, adaptive blindness, and betrayal trauma theory” (1997), Feminism & Psychology.

Noun

DARVO (uncountable)

1. Initialism of deny, attack, and reverse victim and offender: a behavior of perpetrators of wrongdoing (especially sexual offenders), when accused of attacking their victim, reversing the roles of victim and offender.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:DARVO.

See also

• metastasis: a similar strategy in rhetoric

Anagrams

• Davor, Vardø, vardo