Domestic violence, also known as intimate partner violence, is a widespread issue that affects people in all walks of life. It shows up in various forms and can include physical, emotional, sexual, financial, and digital abuse, among others. Being able to recognize these different types of abuse is crucial for finding help for yourself or supporting a friend or loved one.
Signs of physical abuse:
- Preventing you from getting medical attention or calling law enforcement
- Trapping you in your home or preventing you from leaving
- Driving recklessly or dangerously with you in the car
- Slapping, punching, biting, choking, pulling hair
- Forbidding you from eating or sleeping
- Forcing you to use drugs or alcohol
- Harming your children or pets
- Using weapons against you
Signs of emotional abuse:
- Threatening you, your children, family, or pets
- Humiliating you in front of others
- Damaging your belongings
- Controlling what you wear
- Insulting and/or criticizing
- Monitoring your activities
- Name calling
- Gaslighting
- Jealousy
- Isolation
Signs of sexual abuse:
- Making you dress in a sexual way that makes you uncomfortable
- Involving other people in your sexual activities against your will
- Intentionally spreading a sexually transmitted infection
- Causing harm with weapons or objects during sex
- Forcing you or manipulating you into having sex
- Forcing you to watch or make pornography
- Restraining during sex
- Explicit name calling
Signs of financial abuse:
- Living in your home but refusing to contribute to the household
- Refusing to provide money for necessary or shared expenses
- Depositing your paycheck into an account you can’t access
- Giving you an allowance and monitoring how you spend it
- Forcing you to work certain types of jobs
- Maxing out your credit cards
- Stopping you from working
- Stealing money from you
Signs of digital abuse:
- Using technology, the internet, and/or social media to bully, harass, stalk, intimidate, monitor, or control
- Creating fake social media profiles in your name or image
- Sending or pressuring you to send explicit photos or videos
- Telling you who you can or can’t follow on social media
- Stealing or insisting on having your passwords
- Constantly texting or calling
- Looking through your phone
Signs of sexual coercion:
- Implying that you owe them sex in exchange for previous actions, gifts, or consent
- Demanding sex as a way to “prove your love” or by threatening to cheat or leave
- Trying to normalize their sexual demands by saying that they “need” it
- Intimidating you into fearing what will happen if you say no
- Giving you drugs or alcohol to “loosen up” your inhibitions
- Reacting with sadness, anger, or resentment if you say no
- Continuing to pressure you after you say no
Signs of reproductive coercion:
- Threatening you or acting violent if you don’t agree to end or continue a pregnancy
- Forcing pregnancy or not supporting your reproductive decisions
- Forcing you to get or preventing you from getting an abortion
- Intentionally becoming pregnant against your wishes
- Breaking or removing a condom before or during sex
- Lying about having a vasectomy or being on the pill
- Refusing to use a condom or other birth control
Signs of stalking:
- Sending you unwanted texts, messages, letters, emails, or voicemails
- Showing up at your home or workplace unannounced or uninvited
- Using social media or technology to track your activities
- Manipulating other people to investigate your life
- Waiting around at places where you spend time
- Hiring a private investigator to find or follow you
- Leaving you unwanted items, gifts, or flowers
- Damaging your home, car, other property
- Calling you and hanging up repeatedly
- Spreading rumors about you
If you need help escaping an abusive relationship, please call our anonymous, confidential, 24-hour hotline at 1-800-572-2278 or click “Chat with us” to chat with one of our caring advocates.