TYPES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Physical Abuse
Threatening to harm you, blocks you from leaving, grabs you if do something they don’t like, kicking, punching, biting, slapping, strangling, using weapons, throwing things, breaking things, punching walls or doors, driving recklessly, burning, cutting, pulling hair, stabbing, tying or confining you, preventing you from seeking medical care, murder.
Emotional Abuse
Intimidates you, embarrasses you in public, insults you, put you downs, talking down to you, does not listen to or respect your feelings, making threats, being jealous, possessive, controlling; excessive or threatening texts, wanting access to your messages, email, social
media sites, spying, checking up on you, accusations of cheating, making you feel like you need to justify yourself, giving you no privacy, shaming you for your sexual orientation.
Verbal Abuse
Cursing, yelling, shouting, continuously arguing, interrupting, talking over you, put downs, using loud and threatening language and tone to cause fear, name calling, intimidating you, mocking you, abusive language.
Economic Abuse
Withholding money, joint account but you don’t have access, forcing you to leave your job, forcing you to get fired, shaming you for how you spend your money, not allowing you to work or get an education, putting all the bills/credit cards in your name, preventing you from using a car.
Mental Abuse
Playing mind games with you, twisting everything around so nothing is their fault and all of their behavior was caused by something you did or didn’t do, accusing you of doing things that they are doing, lying, manipulating you for control or sex, threatening to “out” you to parents, friends, classmates, distorting reality so you think you are losing your mind.
Sexual Abuse/Marital Rape
Rape, unwanted sexual touching, vulgar comments, pressure for sex, forcing you to have unprotected sex, forcing you to get pregnant or to have an abortion, sexting, forcing you to have sex with other people or to watch your partner have sex with someone else, forcing you to use or participate in pornography.
Social (Isolation) Abuse
Social abuse is Isolation and a form of abuse often closely connected to controlling behaviors. It is not an isolated behavior, but the outcome of many kinds of abusive behaviors. By keeping you from seeing who you want to see, doing what you want to do, setting and meeting goals, and controlling how you think and feel, he is isolating you from the resources (personal and public) which may help
you to leave the relationship. By keeping the victim socially isolated the batterer is keeping you from contact with the world which might not reinforce his perceptions and beliefs.
Spiritual Abuse
Spiritual abuse is not limited to a certain religion or denomination. Any person, of any belief system, is capable of perpetrating spiritual abuse, just as anyone can be the victim of it. Signs of spiritual abuse between intimate partners include when an abusive partner:
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- 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
- forces the children to be raised in a faith that the other partner has not agreed to
- uses religious texts or beliefs to minimize or rationalize abusive behaviors (such as physical, financial, emotional, or sexual abuse/marital rape)