Physical Abuse:
Physical abuse can include direct assaults on the body using objects or weapons; assault on children, being denied access to your home, as well as deprivation of sleep or food. Physical abuse is a crime.
However, the injury doesn't need to be a major one. For example, your abuser slaps you a few times, causing only minor injuries that don't require a visit to the hospital. Although the injury is minimal, the slapping would constitute domestic violence.
Verbal Abuse, Coercion, Threats and Blame: Verbal abuse can include constant put-downs, insults, ridicule, name calling, yelling, humiliation in public or in private, as well as insults around sexuality, body image, intelligence or parenting skills.
Threatening to hurt or kill the victim or her children, family, pets, property or reputation.
Name calling (‘ugly’, ‘stupid’)
Telling victim they’re is unattractive or undesirable.
Yelling, screaming, rampaging, terrorizing or refusing to talk
Psychological / Emotional Abuse: Emotional abuse involves the destruction of the victim's self-worth, and is brought about by persistent insult, humiliation, or criticism.
Psychological/emotional abuse can includes behaviour and/or comments and taunts to undermine your sense of self and your personal security.
This may impose a sense of vulnerability around your personal safety or mental health and wellbeing.
In most states, emotional abuse is not enough on its own to bring a domestic violence action unless the abuse is so persistent and so significant that the relationship can be labeled extremely coercive. Typically, evidence of emotional abuse is combined with other abuse (physical, financial, sexual, or psychological) to bring a domestic violence action.
Social Abuse:
Social abuse is systematically controlling who you see, who you speak to, or who you receive phone calls, messages or email from. Controlling where you go so that you become socially or geographically isolated from other people.
Economic Abuse:
Financial abuse is a way to control the victim through manipulation of economic resources.
This may include, but is not limited to:
Controlling the family income and either not allowing the victim access to money or rigidly limiting their access to family funds. This may also include keeping financial secrets or hidden accounts, putting the victim on an allowance or allowing the victim no say in how money is spent, or making them turn their paycheck over to the perpetrator. Causing the victim to lose a job or preventing them from taking a job. The abuser can make the victim lose their job by making them late for work, refusing to provide transportation to work, or by calling/harassing/calling them at work.
Spending money for necessities (food, rent, utilities) on nonessential items (drugs, alcohol, hobbies.)
Financial/Economic abuse includes refusing you access to money, especially where the money is legally due to you. For example your wages or an inheritance. It also includes accumulating debt in your name, or preventing you from seeking or keeping employment. More
Often, the victim is completely dependent on their partner for money. With no access to money except through the abusive partner, the victim is completely at the abusive partner's mercy. The abusive partner may withhold money for food, clothing, and more. If children are involved, this can overlap with neglect.
Damage to Personal Property:
Damage to personal property includes using physical strength or violence to intimidate you by causing, or threatening to cause damage to your property or valuables.
Digital/Technology Abuse: Digital abuse can involve using technology to bully, harass or intimidate a partner. This can include threats to share, or actually sharing private photos online without your consent. It also includes controlling who you can and cannot be friends with on social media and sending insulting messages via digital platforms.
Spiritual / Cultural Abuse: Spiritual or cultural abuse can include not allowing you to practice your chosen religion or cultural beliefs. Misusing religious or spiritual traditions to justify physical or other abuse towards you.
Stalking: Sexual abuse is using sex in an exploitative fashion or forcing sex on another person. Having consented to sexual activity in the past does not indicate current consent.
Sexual abuse is any forced or unwanted sexual contact or activity. Humiliation can often play a part in sexual abuse as well. Our Sexual Assault Helpline can help you. Sexual abuse (also referred to as sexual assault and/or sexual violence) is a crime.
Reproductive Control: Reproductive control is closely aligned with sexual abuse. It is uniquely related to women’s, (specifically young women’s) ability to control their own reproductive health. For example, using or not using contraception. Or forcing you to make decisions around pregnancy and/or termination. As well as having little to say in the number of children you have, or the timing of when you have children.