Types of domestic abuse

Physical abuse is the use of physical force against someone in a way that injures or endangers that person. Examples are slapping; hitting; biting; pinching; kicking; pulling hair out; shoving; burning; pinning you down: holding you by the neck; restraining; negligent exposure to sexually transmitted diseases.

Sexual abuse means using force, threats or intimidation to make someone perform sexual acts when they don’t want to. It can be a form of physical abuse. It can also mean manipulating someone to look at pornographic material or degrading treatment related to their sexuality. If someone forces you to have sex with them when you don’t want to, this is rape, even if they are your partner/spouse.

This includes physical actions short of actual contact/injury: oral or written threats, or implicit threats intended to cause harassment or distress to another person, like using physical size to intimidate; shouting down; destroying possessions; wielding a knife or a gun; threatening to kill or harm a person and children, or harm family pets; or threats of suicide.

Economic abuse means any behaviour that has a substantial adverse effect on a person’s ability to acquire, use or maintain money, property or obtain goods/services. For example, preventing them from earning or accessing their
own money; spending or taking money without consent; building up debts in their name or withholding child maintenance payments.

Psychological abuse is behaviour that affects a person’s perception of reality. The goal is to convince them that they is crazy or incompetent. Examples include questioning someone’s memory, putting doubt on how others value them, isolating them and/or trivialising their needs or feelings.

Emotional abuse refers to behaviours that affect how a person feels about themselves, with the goal of negatively impact their sense of self-worth.Examples include blaming, belittling, constant judging and criticism, name-calling.

Technology-facilitated abuse means using tech to control, harass or intimidate. It often overlaps with other kinds of abuse, as perpetrators might use tech to carry out sexual, emotional or economic abuse. Examples include cyberstalking through social media, monitoring someone’s location using tracking apps, or sending threatening texts or DMs. Using AI technology to create explicit ‘deepfake’ images is also abuse, and is a criminal offence in the UK.

Spiritual abuse is a form of emotional and psychological abuse that uses religion and faith systems to control and subjugate a victim. It’s characterised by a systematic pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour in a religious context, and could include: enforced accountability; the use of religious texts to coerce and control; Causing harm, isolation and or neglect to get rid of an ‘evil force’ or ‘spirit’; requiring obedience to a perpetrator because of religion, faith or theology; or forcing the victim to act or behave in ways that contradict their religious beliefs.

A small minority of both women and men within the UK experience violence and threats at the hands of their family or community in order to protect their perceived ‘honour’. (Family members are defined as mother, father, son, daughter, brother, sister and grandparents, whether directly related, in-laws or step-family.)

The warning signs of honour-based abuse are:

• forms of communication being severed between victim and friends
• withdrawal from education or workplace
• criticism of victim for ‘Western’ adoption of clothing or make-up
• restrictions in leaving the house or chaperoning outside the home
• onset of depression or suicidal tendencies in an otherwise happy person