Forms of violence
Verbal violence
Verbal abuse can be interjections, blackmail, orders, insults and sarcasm.
Without a single physical blow, verbal abuse achieves its goal: to create terrible tension and maintain a state of fear and insecurity.
Psychological violence
Emotional abuse is a series of contemptuous, humiliating attitudes and words. Denigrate intellectual abilities, reproach for having few talents, deny any way of being, send back an image of incompetence and uselessness.
Often subtle, this form of violence is more difficult to identify. It gradually deteriorates our confidence and self-esteem.
Examples:
“You can’t raise your kids like everyone else,” “Look what you look like, how do you want someone to care about you?”
Sexual violence
Being forced to have sex with your partner. uffering sexual violence such as bites, being tied up, being beaten, being called names, etc. It can also result in obligations: to watch pornographic material, practices where the victim is not consenting, etc. It’s also getting sulked if the partner refuses.
Examples:
“You’re just a whore, a real hot pussy,” “Every time I refused to have sex, he wouldn’t talk to me for three days.”
Economic violence
Economic abuse occurs when the partner forbids his spouse to work, or on the contrary, forces her to work beyond her strength, exercises control over her choice of work, prevents her from studying, or keeps her in ignorance of family income.
Examples:
“He (she) borrows without telling me”, “He (she) spends without limits, for his truck and his fishing, while I, at the slightest expense, he (she) always finds that it costs too much, even for groceries”.
Physical abuse
It can be used when the spouse demonstrates too much independence and the control is not sufficient according to his or her partner. Brutality, physical restraints, slaps, strangulation acts, punching and kicking may be used among other things. And in the meantime, other forms of violence will continue to be present.
Examples:
“He (she) threw me down the stairs”, “The worst thing was when he (she) spat in my face”.
Cyberviolence
Cyberviolence manifests itself in the use of technology to harass, monitor, control or exert pressure on one’s partner or ex-partner.
Examples:
“I got 100 texts and messages from him just today,” “I realized he was following me through an app.”
Femicide
This term refers to the murder of a woman because of her gender. In the context of domestic violence, this is the ultimate form of control.
Source: Domestic violence… what exactly is it?, 58 pages, Grouping of shelters for women who are victims of domestic violence, National Institute of Public Health of Quebec and Council on the Status of Women.
