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