Verbal Abuse: This includes criticism, name-calling and blaming. The victims self esteem is lowered because he/she may believe what is said over a period of time. Cursing and sexual innuendoes may also be included in this category.

Emotional Abuse: This type of abuse may consist of isolating the victim from his/her resources as sources of encouragement. The victim may be physically isolated by being locked in his/her home without a telephone, or source of transportation. The abuser may refuse to show any type of love or affection thereby, gaining more power in the relationship. The victim may not be able to perform at work or at home due to the great amount of stress he/she experienced as a result of the fear and anxiety he/she feels.

Physical Abuse: This covers a whole spectrum of actions directed towards the victim or towards things of importance to the victim. It involves destruction of property or pets. The violence may consist of a slap, kick, punch, threatening with weapons or worse.

Sexual Abuse: This includes any type of forced sexual contact, including forcing the victim to have relationship with others. It also may include denial or refusal by the abuser to meet the victims need for love and affection.

q Pushed or shoved you.

q Held you to keep you from leaving.

q Slapped or bit you.

q Kicked or choked you.

q Hit, punched or stomped you.

q Thrown objects at you.

q Locked you in or out of the house.

q Abandoned you in a dangerous place.

q Refused to help when you were sick, injured or disabled in some other way.

q Subjected you to reckless driving.

q Forced you off the road or kept you from driving, thrown you out.

q Threatened or hurt you with a weapon.

q Told anti-gender jokes, made demeaning remarks about men/women.

q Treated men/women as sex objects.

q Been jealously angry, accuses you of having sex with other men/women.

q Insisted you dress in a more sexual way than you wanted.

q Minimized the importance of your feelings about sex.

q Criticized you sexually.

q Insisted on unwanted and uncomfortable touching.

q Withheld sex and affection.

q Called you demeaning sexual names.

q Forced you to strip when you did not want to.

q Publicly showed sexual interest in other men/women.

q Had affairs with other men/women after agreeing to a faithful relationship.

q Forced to have sex with him/her or others, forced to watch sex acts.

q Forced to perform unwanted sexual acts.

q Forced sex after a beating.

q Forced sex when you were sick or recuperating from an injury or other disablement.

q Forced sex with objects or weapons for the purpose of hurting you.

q Committed sadistic sexual acts.

q Ignored your feelings.

q Ridiculed or insulted your most valued beliefs, your religion, race heritage or class.

q Withheld approval, appreciation or affection as a form of "punishment".

q Ridiculed or insulted men/women as a group.

q Continually criticized you, called you names, shouted at you.

q Insulted or drove away your friends and family.

q Humiliated you in private or public.

q Refused to socialize with you.

q Kept you from working, controlled your money, made all the decisions.

q Refused to work or share money if he/she did work.

q Took car keys or money away.

q Regularly threatened to leave or told you to leave.

q Threatened to hurt you or your family; destroyed your property.

q Punished or deprived the children when he/she was angry at you.

q Threatened to kidnap the children if you left.

q Manipulate you with lies and contradictions.

q Created such a stir at work that you were fired.

back to "abuse" information