What is abuse?

Last Updated on Wednesday, 07 April 2010 12:56

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You can be pretty sure if it's any kind of abuse, it is not okay. There are different types of abuse, and all of them hurt people.

Physical abuse

Physical abuse is anger towards a person that results in violence.

Physical abuse can be:

Violence towards partners, families, friends or random people.

Hitting with fists or with objects.

Kicking, scratching or grabbing.

For the abuser, learning how to control their anger and express it in other ways is extremely important, and can be a hard lesson to learn. Often the abuser may not want to choose violence, however does not know how to communicate what they are feeling in a peaceful way. Luckily there are services out there to help people understand their feelings and express them in non-violent ways.

Emotional abuse

Though not physically painful, emotional abuse can cause endless grief to the person on the receiving end. Whereas physical abuse is much more obvious, emotional abuse can be more discreet and sometimes both parties may not even realise its happening or that what is happening has a name.

Emotional abuse can be:

Put downs and name calling- telling someone they are stupid, useless or picking on their insecurities.

The threat of assault or threats to abandon the relationship.

Mind games.

Intimidation- using looks, actions, expressions or a loud voice to intimidate.

Belittling- making someone feel worthless and vulnerable.

Emotional abuse is manipulative- for the abuser it can be a way of controlling someone by making them feel worthless and scared. It can also have serious consequences for the victim and the experience may stay with them for their entire life.