.png)
What is
Non-Physical Abuse
Your partner doesn't have to physically hit you in order for abuse to happen. Abuse happens in many forms including, but not limited to psychological, verbal abuse, threats, using technology against you and financial manipulation. Any form of power and control over you is considered abuse. If you think you are in an abusive relationship, call the Wesley Shelter.
The following are resources to help you identify non physical forms of abuse.
Abuse can be Psychological
But it can also be psychological – something that is referred to as coercive and controlling behavior. This type of abuse leaves no marks or scars but can cause victims to experience fear, and loss of freedom, on a daily basis.
​
The types of behavior associated with coercion or control can include:
-
Isolating a person from their friends, family, colleagues
-
Stalking their movements or controlling how they spend their time
-
Monitoring social media accounts or tracking their mobile phone
-
Making unreasonable demands
-
Taking control over aspects of a person’s life, such as where they can go, who they can see, what they wear and when they can sleep
-
Depriving them access to support services, such as healthcare
-
Repeatedly putting them down, telling them they are worthless
-
Taking control of a person’s finances, giving them an ‘allowance’ or forcing them to take on debts
-
Taking food away or limiting food, this can be connected to saying they are overweight
-
Making threats or using intimidation to force a change in behavior or choices; this can include sex too
-
Damage to property, such as destruction of household goods and valuable personal items
-
Preventing them from having access to transport or from working
Information Provided by This Is Not an Excuse and Avon and Somerset Police.
Love Labyrinth from One Love.
For more information click here.
​Abuse Is Abuse — Even If He Doesn’t Hit You An Article by Jeltsen
​
Maybe your partner doesn’t hit you, but he calls you fat and ugly each time he gets upset. Maybe he doesn’t hit you, but he confiscates your paycheck and only doles out enough money for the bare essentials. Maybe he doesn’t hit you, but he forces you to have sex whether or not you want to.
These are all examples of abusive relationships that don’t include overt physical violence. While domestic violence is often depicted as strictly physical, there are many different types of abuse that don’t result in bruises and broken bones. READ MORE
Technology Abuse: Experiences of Survivors and Victim Service Agencies
The newest infographics produced by the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) show how technology is being misused by abusers against survivors, in addition to how victim service agencies are using technology in order to help survivors. Through a grant from the Office for Victims of Crime, NNEDV conducted a survey of more than 750 victim service agencies across the United States, including American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This is one of the most comprehensive reviews of what survivors are telling victim service providers about how abusers misuse technology to harass, stalk, and harm.
Nearly 90% of programs report that survivors come to them for help after abusers intimidated and made threats via cell phone, text messages and email, and 75% of programs noted that abusers accessed victim’s accounts (email, social media, etc.) without the victim’s consent and oftentimes without their knowledge. ​READ MORE