Signs of Abuse

If you are experiencing any of the following, or recognize the indicators of abuse in a friend or loved one, please contact us! We can help!

Physical Violence

• ___ Slap, punch, grab, kick, choke, push, restrain, pull hair, pinch, bite
  
• ___ Abuse of furniture, home furnishings, pets, destroying her possessions
• ___ Intimidation (standing in the doorway during arguments, angry or threatening gestures, use of size to intimidate, standing over, out shouting, reckless driving)
• ___ Unwanted touching
• ___ Threats (verbal or nonverbal, direct or indirect)
• ___ Harassment (uninvited visits or calls, following around, checking up on, embarrassing in public, not leaving when asked)
• ___ Isolation (preventing or making it hard to see/talk to friends, relatives, others)
• ___ Other (please list)

Psychological and Economic Abuses

• ___ Yelling, swearing, being lewd, raising voice, using angry expressions or gestures 
• ___ Criticism (name-calling, swearing, mocking, put-downs, ridicule, accusations,      blaming, trivializing words or gestures)
• ___ Pressure tactics (rushing to make decisions, using guilt/accusations, sulking,      threatening to withhold financial support and manipulating children.)
• ___ Interrupting, changing topics, not listening, not responding, twisting words, topic stringing
• ___ Economic coercion (withholding money, the car, or other resources; sabotaging       attempts to work)
• ___ Claiming "the truth" being the authority, defining behavior, using "logic"
• ___ Lying, withholding information, infidelity
• ___ Using pornography (e.g. magazines, movies, strip shows, home videos, etc.)
• ___ Withholding help on childcare/housework; not doing share or following through on agreements)
• ___ Other forms of manipulation (please list)

Print this checklist

Indicators of Abuse

• Repeated injuries or injuries that are difficult to account for as accidental. Many victims are beaten while they are pregnant.
• Repeated injuries or injuries that are difficult to account for
• Visits to health care facilities for vague complaints or acute anxiety with no reported injuries. Psychiatric hospitalizations for anxiety or depression.
• Strokes in young women, often caused by blows to the head or damage to the neck arteries due to strangulation.
• Isolation of the victims-no access to money, to the car or other forms of transportation, to family or friends, to jobs or school.
• Victims referring frequently to their partner's "anger" or "temper", or "threats".
• Fears of being harmed or harming partner.
• Terror or reluctance on the part of the victim to speak to those in authority because of reprisals from the abuser.
• Reluctance to speak or to disagree in the presence of the abuser because of fear.
• Frequent fleeing from their home.
• Suicide attempts or homicidal assaults.
• The abuser's snatching of the children.
• The abuser's jealous accusations of sexual infidelity against the victim.
• The assailant sexual or physical abuse of the children.
• The abuser's attempts or threats to psychiatrically hospitalize the victim and convince you of their insanity.
• Public docility and respectability and private aggression by the batterer.