What is Physical Abuse?

Physical abuse is any intentional act causing or threatening injury or trauma to another person by way of direct contact. This act puts a person directly in danger.

Examples:

• Hitting
• Breaking objects to show their anger and threats to use objects to hurt the victim.
• Restraining a person
• Throwing objects at a person.

What is Verbal Abuse?

Verbal Abuse is the use of words to control, manipulate, devalue, insult, criticize and hurt another person.

Examples:

• Frequently yelling or screaming
• Insulting or attempting to humiliate someone
• Frequent criticism in order to destroy the self-confidence of the victim

What is Financial Abuse?

Financial abuse involves the use of power to financially control a partner by withholding money, earnings and financial care.

Examples:

• Restricting or not allowing access to bank accounts
• Threatening to withhold money if a partner leaves the abusive relationship
• Stealing or using a partner’s money
• Withholding money from a partner to buy basic necessities
• Identity theft

What is Emotional Abuse?

Emotional abuse involves mistreating a person through use of words or gestures aiming to affect a victim's self-esteem. This can be to deliberate to try and scare, humiliate or isolate a person.

Examples:

• Making a person the subject of jokes or constant use of sarcasm to hurt a person.
• Blaming and scapegoating
• Making a person perform degrading acts.
• Not allowing a person to have friends or take control of who they speak to.
• Persistently ignoring a person and then blaming it on them

What is Psychological Abuse?

Psychological abuse involves extreme manipulation and psychological control which can distort the victims’ sense of reality (also known as gaslighting). The abuser often convinces the victim that they are crazy or incompetent.

Examples:

• Insisting a previous event occurred in a very different way than the victim remembers. This can be to the extent of basic facts e.g. “you wore black shoes not white ones. Don’t you remember”.
• Convincing someone they have consistent false memories which can help set the stage for larger disputes.
• Undermine confidence and consistent use of negative feedback aimed to target central aspects of a person's sense of self.
• Playing mind games and uses mind control techniques to control a person.

What is Digital Abuse?

Digital abuse is the use of technology to assert control and manipulation by stalking, intimidating, bullying or controlling a person via a social networking platform.

Examples:

• Stalking a person via social media and tracking devices
• Stealing and controlling a person's digital passwords
• Monitoring a person’s internet time and use
• Threatening to post inappropriate photos on social media
• Mocking over social media

What is Religious/Spiritual Abuse?

Religious and Spiritual Abuse involve the practice of someone in a dominant position creating a toxic culture using scripture or religion to control, harass, ridicule, shame, manipulate or intimidate someone else.

Examples:

• Ridicules or insults the other person’s religious or spiritual beliefs
• Prevents the other partner from practicing their religious or spiritual beliefs
• Uses their partner’s religious or spiritual beliefs to manipulate or shame them
• Uses religious texts to force unwanted sexual acts
• Uses religious texts or beliefs to minimize or rationalize abusive behaviors (such as physical, financial, emotional or sexual abuse/marital rape)

What is Sexual Abuse?

Sexual abuse involves any sexual act or unwanted touch performed without a partner’s consent.

Examples:

• Rape, attempted rape or sexual assault, including marital rape *
• Inappropriate touch anywhere
• Forcing a partner to send sexually explicit photos or distributing sexually explicit images of your partner

What is Immigration Abuse?

Due to the victim’s immigration status, abusive partners have additional ways to exert power and control over their victims.

Examples:

• Isolation: Preventing the victim from learning English or communicating with friends, family or others from their home countries.
• Threats: Threatening deportation or withdrawal of petitions for legal status.
• Intimidation: Destroying legal documents or papers needed in this country such as passports, resident cards, health insurance or driver’s licenses.
• Manipulation Regarding Citizenship or Residency: Withdrawing or not filing papers for residency; lying by threatening that the victim will lose their citizenship or residency if they report the violence.
• Economic Abuse: Getting the victim fired from their job or calling employers and falsely reporting that the victim is undocumented.
• Children: Threatening to hurt children or take them away if the police are contacted.