Intimate Partner Violence

Physical abuse can take the shape of kicking, punching, shoving, slapping, and any other acts that can hurt someone’s body.

Physical abuse can also be Destructive acts. These are acts when someone physically damages things or pets around a person in order to scare or threaten them. Acts can include, punching walls, breaking windows, damaging vehicles, destroying important documents, and harming pets.

Criticizing body parts or sexuality, forced or pressured sexual acts, including rape, transmitting STD’s, openly discussing affairs or sex with other people.

Emotional abuse is a consistent pattern of hurtful words, bullying, and other behaviors that wear down a person’s self-esteem and harm their mental health.  Types of emotional abuse are but not limited to gaslighting, isolation, name calling, shaming or blaming, silent treatments, making little of a person’s concerns, withholding affection and attention.

Verbal abuse can be but not limited to name calling, including vulgar names and terms, put downs, and threats. Verbal abuse also includes manipulations and blame.

Mental abuse is when someone makes a person feel like they are going crazy by convincing them that they are not normal, they are overreacting, or seeing behavior that is not there.

Spiritual abuse is when someone either belittles or devalues a person’s spiritual belief or uses their spiritual beliefs against them. Also includes being prevented from practicing beliefs or using spiritual beliefs as a basis for other abuses on this page.

Financial abuse is controlling and manipulating someone by withholding and monitoring money, reinforcing financial dependence by not allowing a person to get a job or higher education, threatening to take away basic needs such as food, clothing, housing or spending income on drugs/alcohol/gambling or other unimportant things when bills are due or basic needs are not met.