Recognising abuse

• Shouting/mocking/name calling/verbally threatening.
  
• Pressure tactics: sulking, threatening to commit suicide: take the children away: report you to agencies unless you comply with his demands regarding bringing up children; lying to family or friends, feeling that you have no choice in any decisions.
  
• Disrespect; persistently putting you down in front of other people; not listening or responding when you talk; interrupting your telephone calls, taking money from your purse without asking; refusing to help with children or housework.
  
• Breaking Trust; lying to you, withholding information from you; being jealous; having other relationships. Breaking promises and agreements.
  
• Isolation: monitoring or blocking telephone calls, telling you where you can and cannot go; preventing you from seeing friends or family.
  
• Harassment: following you, checking up on you, opening your mail, repeatedly checking to see who telephoned you; embarrassing you in public.
  
• Threats; making angry gestures; using physical size, shouting you down, destroying your possessions; breaking things, punching walls, wielding a knife or a gun, threatening to kill you and your children.
  
• Sexual violence; using force, any degrading treatment, based on your sexual orientation covering their tracks.
  
• Physical violence; punching, kicking, slapping, biting, pinching, hitting, pulling hair, pushing, shoving, burning , strangling, tearing clothes.
  
• Denial; saying that the abuse does not happen, saying that you caused the abuse, being publically gentle and patient, crying and begging for forgiveness, saying the abuse will not happen again.