Types of Abuse

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse involves the deliberate use of force against another person, causing pain, injury, or bodily harm. It is one of the most recognised forms of abuse, but it is important to understand that it includes much more than hitting.

Examples include:

• Hitting, slapping, punching, or kicking
• Pushing, shoving, or throwing objects
• Strangling or choking
• Burning or scalding
• Restraining or confining a person against their will
• Using weapons or household objects to cause harm
• Withholding food, medication, or medical care

Emotional & Psychological Abuse

Emotional and psychological abuse is a pattern of behaviour intended to control, demean, isolate, or manipulate a person's sense of self-worth and reality. It can be harder to identify than physical abuse because there are no visible injuries, and victims are often made to feel that they are overreacting or "too sensitive".

Examples include:

• Constant criticism, humiliation, and name-calling
• Controlling what a person wears, eats, or does
• Isolating them from friends and family
• Gaslighting — making someone question their own memory or perceptions
• Threats (to harm them, children, pets, or themselves)
• Public humiliation
• Blaming the victim for the abuser's behaviour
• Using jealousy or possessiveness to justify control

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse is any sexual act, contact, or behaviour that occurs without the explicit, freely given and ongoing consent of all people involved. It can happen to anyone — regardless of age, gender, sexuality, or relationship to the abuser.

Consent must be freely given, reversible, informed, enthusiastic, and specific. A person cannot consent if they are intoxicated, asleep, coerced, or under the legal age of consent (16 in the UK).

Examples include:

• Rape or sexual assault
• Unwanted sexual touching
• Sexual abuse within a relationship or marriage (marital rape is a crime)
• Coercing or pressuring someone into sexual acts
• Exposing someone to sexual content without consent
• Grooming — building trust with a person or their family for the purpose of abuse
• Child sexual exploitation (CSE)

Coercive Control

Coercive control is a pattern of ongoing behaviour designed to strip a person of their independence, freedom, and identity. It became a criminal offence in England and Wales under the Serious Crime Act 2015.

Unlike a single incident of abuse, coercive control is cumulative — each act on its own might seem minor, but together they create a situation of fear, dependency, and entrapment.

Examples include:

• Monitoring movements, phone calls, and messages
• Controlling finances and access to money
• Stopping someone from seeing friends or family
• Controlling what they wear, eat, or where they go
• Making all household decisions without input
• Using children as a means of control
• Threatening to report them to authorities, immigration, or take their children

Financial Abuse

Financial abuse involves controlling a person's ability to access, acquire, or use financial resources. It creates dependency and can make it incredibly difficult for a victim to leave an abusive situation.

Examples include:

• Controlling all household money and giving an "allowance"
• Preventing someone from working or studying
• Running up debt in a partner's name without consent
• Stealing money or possessions
• Withholding benefits, pensions, or inheritance
• Demanding receipts or tracking every purchase
• Sabotaging employment opportunities

Online & Digital Abuse

Online and digital abuse uses technology to harass, monitor, threaten, or control. It can occur alongside other forms of abuse or on its own, and its effects can be just as severe as offline harm.

Examples include:

• Cyberstalking — obsessively monitoring someone's online activity
• Sending threatening or harassing messages
• Sharing intimate images without consent ("revenge porn") — a crime in the UK
• Hacking into accounts, email, or devices
• Installing tracking or spyware software
• Public shaming or spreading false information online
• Using social media to monitor and control a partner

Child Abuse & Neglect

Child abuse is any action — or failure to act — that causes significant harm to a child under 18. It is never the child's fault. Abuse can be carried out by parents, carers, professionals, or other children.

Forms of child abuse include:

• Physical abuse — hitting, shaking, burning, or other deliberate harm
• Emotional abuse — persistent criticism, threats, or making a child feel worthless
• Sexual abuse — involving a child in sexual activity (any age under 16, or 18 in some circumstances)
• Neglect — failing to provide adequate food, shelter, clothing, medical care, or supervision
• Child sexual exploitation (CSE) — manipulating children into sexual activity, often through gifts or affection

Elder Abuse

Elder abuse is the mistreatment of older people, often by someone they trust — a carer, family member, or professional. It is widely underreported, partly due to the victim's dependence on the abuser.

Examples include:

• Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse
• Financial exploitation — stealing or misusing money, property, or assets
• Neglect — failing to provide basic care needs
• Institutional abuse in care homes or hospitals
• Discriminatory abuse based on age, disability, or identity

Spiritual Abuse

Spiritual abuse occurs when someone uses religious belief, faith, or spiritual authority to manipulate, control, or harm another person. It can happen within any religion or belief system, and is often perpetrated by a person in a position of spiritual leadership or by a partner who weaponises faith.

Spiritual abuse can be particularly difficult to recognise and escape because it is framed within a belief system that may be central to the victim's identity and community. Victims are often told that their suffering is God's will, or that speaking out would be a sin or a betrayal of their faith.

Examples include:

• Using religious texts or teachings to justify control, punishment, or abuse
• Telling someone they must submit to a partner or leader regardless of how they are treated
• Threatening spiritual consequences (damnation, exclusion, curses) for non-compliance
• Preventing someone from practising their own faith or forcing them to follow a different one
• Using religious community or leadership to isolate the victim from outside support
• Shaming or humiliating someone for perceived spiritual failings
• Discouraging or preventing victims from seeking outside help, including police or counselling
• Forced participation in religious rituals against a person's will

Institutional Abuse

Institutional abuse refers to the mistreatment of people by organisations, systems, or those working within them — including care homes, hospitals, schools, prisons, religious institutions, and other settings where people are in positions of vulnerability or dependence.

Unlike abuse in personal relationships, institutional abuse often involves a culture of poor practice, the misuse of organisational power, or deliberate exploitation by those in authority. It can be systemic — meaning it affects many people over a long period — and is often enabled by a failure of oversight or a culture of silence.

Examples include:

• Neglect or mistreatment within care homes, hospitals, or supported living settings
• Abuse of power by those in positions of authority (teachers, clergy, social workers)
• Systemic failures to protect vulnerable people from known risks
• Dehumanising treatment — ignoring dignity, privacy, or individual needs
• Covering up abuse to protect the institution's reputation
• Financial exploitation of residents or service users
• Institutional responses that re-traumatise victims rather than support them

Discriminatory Abuse

Discriminatory abuse occurs when someone is mistreated because of who they are — their race, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other protected characteristic. It can take place within institutions, in the community, or in personal relationships.

Under the Equality Act 2010, people in the UK are protected from discrimination based on nine protected characteristics. When discriminatory treatment crosses into abuse, harassment, or targeted violence, it may also constitute a hate crime under UK law.

Examples include:

• Harassment or abuse targeted at someone's race, ethnicity, or religion
• Targeting someone because of their disability or mental health condition
• Homophobic, biphobic, or transphobic abuse
• Age-related abuse or ageism that causes harm
• Denying someone services or support based on a protected characteristic
• Using slurs, stereotypes, or dehumanising language
• Abuse motivated by misogyny or gender-based prejudice