Does your partner

• Embarrass or mock you in front of others?
• Claim you’re worthless without them?
• Justify hurtful behaviour by blaming their substance use?
• Make you feel trapped?
• Prevent you from enjoying activities?
• Restrict your movements?
• Limit your access to money?

Do you ever

• Feel anxious about how your partner might react?
• Frequently find yourself justifying your partner’s actions to others?
• Avoid actions that might lead to conflict or upset your partner?
• Prioritise your partner’s wishes over your own desires?
• Remain in the relationship out of fear of your partner’s reaction to a breakup?

Coercive control is a pattern of controlling and manipulative behaviours within a relationship. This behaviour includes threats, humiliation and intimidation to harm, punish, or frighten someone and it became a criminal offence in April 2015.

Examples of coercive control include:

• isolating you from friends and family

• checking your social media or text messages

• restricting who you see/speak to

• controlling your money so you are unable to purchase basic needs, such as food

• tracking you through online activity

• making threats, such as threatening to harm themselves, you, family members or pets.

Physical abuse is any type of physical violence or force, causing physical harm/injury to you or your children, to create fear and control you.

Physical abuse can escalate over time and can result in serious injury and even death.  A woman is murdered by a partner or ex-partner every 3 days in England and Wales.

As well as punching, slapping and kicking, physical abuse includes:

• choking, suffocating or strangling – anything that prevents you from breathing normally
• throwing objects at you or near you
• punching holes in walls or breaking furniture and belongings
• physically restricting your movement, for example locking you in a room or house or preventing you from leaving
• pushing, shoving or pinching
• not allowing you access to, medication, or forcing you to take illegal drugs

Emotional or psychological abuse is the most common form of abuse and it is often hard to determine if their behaviour is abusive, but this type of abuse causes long term to survivors. Gaslighting whereby the abuser attempts to confuse the victim, so that they feel as if they are losing their mind is a form of this abuse. Other examples of emotional or psychological abuse include:

• shouting, mocking, accusing or name calling
• threatening to report you to authorities so you will have your children removed
• being nice followed by being cruel and hurting you which further confuses you
• giving you the silent treatment or sulking as a form of ‘punishment’
• lying about you to family and friends
• putting you down or humiliating in front of friends and family

Any sexual activity should be between people who actively consent to it. If you don’t consent or if you are unable to consent, this is abuse. Everyone must have the capacity to reach, communicate or withhold consent. That means if someone is unconscious or asleep, they cannot consent.

Examples of sexual abuse include:

• forcing or coercing you to have sex or engage in sexual acts
• forcing you to watch pornography
• using sexually degrading insults/name calling such as whore or slut
• not letting or forcing you to use contraception
• sharing or threatening to share intimate images of you without consent criticising your sexual performance

Modern technology has resulted in perpetrators having an array of methods of controlling and tracking you.

Technology based abuse can include:

• insisting you constantly call or text them about where you are, who you are with and what you are doing
• they can constantly message or call you about where you are, who you are with and what you are doing
• checking your phone and social media accounts to see who are interacting with
• using Google Home/Alexa or Ring doorbell devices to track and listen to you
• using tracking devices on your car to monitor your whereabouts
• installing spyware apps on your devices

Suzy Lamplugh Trust defines stalking as ‘A pattern of fixated and obsessive behaviour which is repeated, persistent, intrusive and causes fear of violence or engenders alarm and distress in the victim.’

Stalking can have a massive emotional impact on those it affects, stalking includes:

• frequently driving past your home or workplace to keep watch on your movements
• you regularly receive unwanted gifts – this can be disguised as a romantic gesture such as sending you flowers
• waiting outside your home, workplace to cause you fear, or as a threat
• leaving unwanted messages or voicemails on your phone, which may be threatening or abusive in nature
• damaging your home or personal property – for example damaging your car tyres
• always turning up wherever you are

If you are concerned you are being stalked you can call the National Stalking Helpline on

0808 802 0300 calls are free and the line is open:

09:30 – 20:00, Monday and Wednesday

09:30 – 16:00, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

Economic abuse is a form of abuse where one person controls another person’s ability to acquire, use, and maintain financial resources. It often occurs in intimate relationships or domestic situations and is a way for the abuser to exert power and control.

Impact:

Economic abuse can trap victims in abusive situations because they feel they cannot afford to leave or support themselves. It also has long-term effects, such as damaged credit, lack of work experience, or debt, which can persist even after leaving the abuser.

Click here to find out if you are experiencing economic abuse

Does your partner

• Embarrass or mock you in front of others?
• Claim you’re worthless without them?
• Justify hurtful behaviour by blaming their substance use?
• Make you feel trapped?
• Prevent you from enjoying activities?
• Restrict your movements?
• Limit your access to money?

Do you ever

• Feel anxious about how your partner might react?
• Frequently find yourself justifying your partner’s actions to others?
• Avoid actions that might lead to conflict or upset your partner?
• Prioritise your partner’s wishes over your own desires?
• Remain in the relationship out of fear of your partner’s reaction to a breakup?

Coercive control is a pattern of controlling and manipulative behaviours within a relationship. This behaviour includes threats, humiliation and intimidation to harm, punish, or frighten someone and it became a criminal offence in April 2015.

Examples of coercive control include:

• isolating you from friends and family

• checking your social media or text messages

• restricting who you see/speak to

• controlling your money so you are unable to purchase basic needs, such as food

• tracking you through online activity

• making threats, such as threatening to harm themselves, you, family members or pets.

Physical abuse is any type of physical violence or force, causing physical harm/injury to you or your children, to create fear and control you.

Physical abuse can escalate over time and can result in serious injury and even death.  A woman is murdered by a partner or ex-partner every 3 days in England and Wales.

As well as punching, slapping and kicking, physical abuse includes:

• choking, suffocating or strangling – anything that prevents you from breathing normally
• throwing objects at you or near you
• punching holes in walls or breaking furniture and belongings
• physically restricting your movement, for example locking you in a room or house or preventing you from leaving
• pushing, shoving or pinching
• not allowing you access to, medication, or forcing you to take illegal drugs

Emotional or psychological abuse is the most common form of abuse and it is often hard to determine if their behaviour is abusive, but this type of abuse causes long term to survivors. Gaslighting whereby the abuser attempts to confuse the victim, so that they feel as if they are losing their mind is a form of this abuse. Other examples of emotional or psychological abuse include:

• shouting, mocking, accusing or name calling
• threatening to report you to authorities so you will have your children removed
• being nice followed by being cruel and hurting you which further confuses you
• giving you the silent treatment or sulking as a form of ‘punishment’
• lying about you to family and friends
• putting you down or humiliating in front of friends and family

Any sexual activity should be between people who actively consent to it. If you don’t consent or if you are unable to consent, this is abuse. Everyone must have the capacity to reach, communicate or withhold consent. That means if someone is unconscious or asleep, they cannot consent.

Examples of sexual abuse include:

• forcing or coercing you to have sex or engage in sexual acts
• forcing you to watch pornography
• using sexually degrading insults/name calling such as whore or slut
• not letting or forcing you to use contraception
• sharing or threatening to share intimate images of you without consent criticising your sexual performance

Modern technology has resulted in perpetrators having an array of methods of controlling and tracking you.

Technology based abuse can include:

• insisting you constantly call or text them about where you are, who you are with and what you are doing
• they can constantly message or call you about where you are, who you are with and what you are doing
• checking your phone and social media accounts to see who are interacting with
• using Google Home/Alexa or Ring doorbell devices to track and listen to you
• using tracking devices on your car to monitor your whereabouts
• installing spyware apps on your devices

Suzy Lamplugh Trust defines stalking as ‘A pattern of fixated and obsessive behaviour which is repeated, persistent, intrusive and causes fear of violence or engenders alarm and distress in the victim.’

Stalking can have a massive emotional impact on those it affects, stalking includes:

• frequently driving past your home or workplace to keep watch on your movements
• you regularly receive unwanted gifts – this can be disguised as a romantic gesture such as sending you flowers
• waiting outside your home, workplace to cause you fear, or as a threat
• leaving unwanted messages or voicemails on your phone, which may be threatening or abusive in nature
• damaging your home or personal property – for example damaging your car tyres
• always turning up wherever you are

If you are concerned you are being stalked you can call the National Stalking Helpline on

0808 802 0300 calls are free and the line is open:

09:30 – 20:00, Monday and Wednesday

09:30 – 16:00, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

Economic abuse is a form of abuse where one person controls another person’s ability to acquire, use, and maintain financial resources. It often occurs in intimate relationships or domestic situations and is a way for the abuser to exert power and control.

Impact:

Economic abuse can trap victims in abusive situations because they feel they cannot afford to leave or support themselves. It also has long-term effects, such as damaged credit, lack of work experience, or debt, which can persist even after leaving the abuser.