Forms of Abuse
Economic Abuse:
- Intentional design by abuser to make a person completely dependent on the abuser for money and economic survival
- Controlling a person’s money and forcing her/him to ask and justify the need for money to buy food, clothes, etc.
- Preventing a person from working or choosing their own career
- Sabotaging a person’s job (making them miss work, calling constantly)
Emotional Abuse:
- Harassment
- Constant criticism
- Continuous denigration of one’s abilities and competency (e.g., you are a rotten person, an awful parent, etc.)
- Attempts to undermine one’s self-image and sense of self-worth by utilizing insults, name calling and “put downs”
Psychological Abuse:
- Threats of abuse or harm to others
- Blackmail
- Humiliation
- Extreme control and/or limitation of all one’s activities including money spent, work issues, clothing worn, etc., by the abuser
Physical Abuse:
- Physical injuries
- Intimidation or threat of injury
- Attempts to inflict physical injury
Sexual Abuse:
- Attempts to engage in non-consensual contact
- Any exploitative or coercive, non-consensual sexual contact (fondling, intercourse, sodomy, etc.)
- Threatening a person in a sexual manner
Minimizing, Denying and Blaming:
- Making light of the abuse, not taking it seriously
- Saying the abuse didn’t happen
- Shifting responsibility for the abusive behavior
- Saying you provoked the abuse
Destruction of Property and/or Pets:
- Destroying personal or household items
- Torturing or killing of pets
- Threatening to torture or kill pets
