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Physical Abuse
- Throws things at you
- Pushes, grabs or shoves you
- Pulls your hair/twists your arm
- Pins you to wall, floor or bed
- Chokes you
- Kicks, hits or punches you
- Threatens you with a knife, gun or other weapon
- Tries to run you down with a car
- Physically abuses the children
- Hurts or kills pets
- Forces you to terminate pregnancy
- Causes physical harm while you are pregnant
Emotional Abuse
- Insults you in front of others
- Puts down your physical appearance
- Treats you as though you are stupid
- Criticizes your care of children/home
- Calls you names and swears at you
- Calls you crazy/irrational
- Accuses you of having an affair
- Ridicules family or friends
- Goes through personal things, i.e., purse, drawers, pockets, phone or computer
- Sends harassing messages through social media sites or via text messages
- Abuses drugs or alcohol
Heterosexist/Transphobic abuse
- Exploits societal homophobia
- Exploits internalized anxieties about your sexual orientation to control you
- Threatens to “out” you and reveal your sexual orientation to family, friends, neighbours and employers
- Uses offensive pronouns
- Denies you access to medical treatment or hormones or coerces you to pursue medical treatment
- Tells you that you are not a real “woman”
- Uses looks, actions, gestures to reinforce homophobic, biphobic or transphobic control
- Makes you feel bad about yourself
- Says no one will believe you, especially if you are lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans
- Says women can’t abuse women or men can’t abuse men and therefore it is just “fighting” and not abuse
- Threatens to tell your ex-spouse or authorities that you are lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans so they will take the children
- Controls/defines each partner’s role or duties in the relationship
- Uses privilege or ability to “pass” to discredit you, put you in danger, cut off your access to resources or use the system against you
