Physical
Examples: hitting, murder, strangling, pulling hair, smashing things, burning, denying medical support or medications, locked in side or outside, damage to possessions, cruelty to pets.
Sexual
Examples: unwanted sex or sexual acts, sexual acts in front of or witnessed by children, made to watch pornography, sex on their conditions, denying choice in contraception, forced abortion.
Emotional/Psychological
Example: saying you are crazy, threatening suicide, threatening to leave, self esteem erosion, critiquing appearance/body, put-downs, undermining character, implying mental illness, spreading rumours, saying you are a bad father/mother/partner, blaming, shaming, misattributing responsibility for violence e.g. “look what you made me do”, controlling what you wear.
For the LGBTIQA+ relationships, the type of abuse can involve ‘Outing’, or threatening to ‘Out’ their partner to friends, family, church or employer.
Cultural/Spiritual
Example: not letting them follow their own beliefs, using beliefs to justify behaviour, not allowing negotiation in children’s spiritual education, stopping attendance at a place of worship, forcing or insisting on conversion.
Financial/Economic
Example: controlling money, getting into debt, control of shopping expenditure, concealing assets, unable to buy things for oneself, rationing or placing conditions on money, gambling joint money, taking out loans.
Verbal
Example: yelling, name calling, sarcasm, fault finding, lies, public humiliation, threats, dominating conversation.
Social
Example: not allowing the individual to see or ring friends or family, monitoring where they are, reading messages on phone, smashing phone, jealousy, accusing of affairs, disallowing transport or license, controlling appearance, sabotaging social outings.
Stalking
Examples: watching from parked cars, unwanted gifts, cyber stalking, repeatedly driving past home or work, reading mail or emails, turning up at places where the person who experiences violence frequents.
Technology facilitated abuse
Examples: tracking via mobile phone apps, monitoring through the access of online bank accounts, threats to the partner via social media.
There is a disturbing increase in the number of individuals experiencing technology facilitated abuse, as people who use violence use digital means to monitor and control their partners movements.
Abuse via technology has an enormous impact on the lives of people experiencing domestic and family violence. It restricts their movements, creates fear and causes issues for their health and wellbeing. Knowing how to increase safety when using digital technology is very important, see information here…Domestic Violence-eSafety Online Safety Plan
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