Abuse often becomes more severe and/or more frequent over time.
The Continuums of Abuse illustrate how physical, sexual, financial, and emotional abuse can progress in their harm and danger.

Physical Abuse Continuum

• Not meeting physical needs
• Pinching/squeezing
• Tickling
• Pushing/shoving/restraining
• Jerking/pulling/shaking
• Slapping/biting/pulling hair
• Shaking
• Hitting/punching/kicking
• Choking/throwing objects
• Repeated hitting or repeated action of any previous item
• Targeted hitting (hitting certain areas of the body) or targeting of any previous item
• Using objects as weapons ( household weapons)
• Restraining/hitting/punching
• Throwing her
• Pregnancy–miscarriage
• Medical treatment needed
• Lacerations that require stitches
• Broken bones/internal injuries
• Disabling or disfiguring
• Using weapons/knives, guns, poison
• Death

 Sexual Abuse Continuum

• Joking in her presence
• Treating her as a sex object (ogling)
• Sexual jokes about women
• Jealousy (may be extreme)
• Ignoring her changing psychological needs
• Minimizing her feeling/needs regarding sex
• Criticizing her sexually
• Child/partner attending strip shows
• Uncomfortable touch
• Unwanted touch
• Withholding sex/affection
• Sexualizing need for affection
• Sexualizing a kiss by other than partner
• Sex labels: “whore”. “frigid”, “dried-up”
• Demanding sex
• Using pornography
• Taking away her right to say “NO”
• Forcing her to strip or perform humiliating acts in front of kids, others
• Forcing picture-taking
• Promiscuity
• Forcing her to watch sexual acts, pornography, etc.
• Demanding sex with threats
• Forcing sex with self/others
• Forcing uncomfortable sex
• Forcing sex after beating
• Sex for purpose of hurting (use of objects/weapons)
• Unwanted sadism
• Mutilation
• Death

Financial Abuse Continuum

• Believing that older people do not need money
• Believing that only men can manage the finances
• Thinking of her money as his own
• Criticizing choice of spending
• Unwilling to teach her money-handling skills
• Doling out her own money
• Consuming her resources (e.g. food/alcohol) without payment
• Withholding money
• Imposing unwanted caregiver roles
• Moving in with the older person/not moving out
• Forcing or making person feel guilty so as to entwine resources
• Withholding financial status
• Taking advantage of her mental condition
• Denying services for monetary convenience, e.g., birth control, medical care
• Not paying loans/repeated borrowing
• Unwanted/forced pre-distribution of goods
• “Borrowing” of possessions
• Taking money
• Making her give her money to children
• Duress/misrepresentation
• Forcing her to give over control of money
• Theft of money/goods
• Make her sign over house/car
• Stealing her cheques, e.g., baby bonus, pension
• Denying her money for necessities
• Leaving her destitute
• Death/suicide

 Emotional Abuse Continuum

• Jokes about habits/faults/age/disabilities
• Insults
• Overly familiar, e.g., use of “dear”/not using name that woman prefers
• Speaking to third party (acting as if she were not there)
• Treating her as a child
• Not looking at her if she has a disability, or treating her as if she had a disability
• Withholding approval
• Ignoring her feelings
• Taking away choices regarding dress, food and other personal
• Not communicating appropriately
• Not keeping promises
• Yelling
• Name calling
• Repeated/targeted insults
• Repeated private humiliation
• Blaming victim for all faults
• Lying
• Labelling her as “crazy”, “old”, “bitch”
• Silence/shunning
• Threatening violence/retaliation
• Putting down/diminishing abilities, e.g., as a parent, grandparent
• Demanding attention
• Telling her about affairs
• Labelling her as alcoholic when under medication
• Alienating children/causing their alienation
• Imposing expectations beyond her, (i.e., looking after grandchildren)
• Offering to stay “since you need me and can’t make it without me”
• Adult Children moving home/living off woman
• Unpredictable actions
• Repeated public humiliations
• Threatening to put her in a home/competency
• Nervous Breakdown/depression
• Mental “illness”
• Declaring her incompetent
• Threatening/attempting
• Attempting suicide
• Death