Domestic Abuse

Domestic abuse is any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and violent behaviour, including sexual violence.  In the majority of cases, it’s committed by a partner or ex-partner, but can also be committed by family members or carers and can affect anyone regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, socio-economic status, sexuality or background.

Abuse comes in many different forms, including physical, emotional, sexual and financial and it’s important to recognise some of the potential signs…

Physical abuse

  • Being pushed, kicked, bitten, slapped, hit or punched
  • Being burnt, choked or held down
  • Things being thrown by the other person

Emotional abuse

  • Being belittled or put down
  • You’re blamed for the abuse or arguments, whilst the other person denies it’s happening or plays it down
  • They isolate you from your family and friends or stop you going to work or college
  • They tell you what to wear, who to see, where to go and what to think

Sexual abuse

  • Being touched in a way you don’t want to be
  • Hurting you during sex or pressuring you into unsafe sex
  • Making unwanted sexual demands or forcing you to have sex when you don’t want to, which is rape

Financial abuse

  • Controlling your money or not giving you enough to buy food and other essential items
  • Not allowing you to work, so you have no independent income
  • Obtaining credit cards in your name, without your permission

Please note…This is not an exhaustive list of signs, there may be others to look out for too.

In an emergency always dial 999

  • Call West Mercia Women’s Aid Helpline 24 hours a day on 0800 783 1359. Calls are free from a landline.
  • Call Men’s Advice Line on 0808 801 0327 (Monday – Friday 9am-5pm)

LiveChat – to chat ‘silently’ with a support worker on the website: westmerciawomensaid.org available Monday to Friday, 9:00am – 2:30pm 

West Mercia Women’s Aid: http://westmerciawomensaid.org/

Men’s Advice Line: www.mensadviceline.org.uk


Downloads

Skip to content