Read the contents below and then ask yourself:

What Symptoms Below Fit My Life of The Life of Someone I Know?

Using Coercion and Threats

*Making or carrying out threats
to do something to hurt her*
*Threatening to leave her,
To commit suicide,
To report her to welfare*
*Making her drop charges*
*Making her do illegal things*

Using Intimidation

*Making her afraid by using looks,
gestures, or actions*
*Smashing things*
*Abusing Pets*
*Displaying Weapons*

Using Emotional Abuse

*Putting her down*
*Making her feel bad about herself*
*Calling her names*
*Making her think she's crazy*
*Playing mind games*
*Humiliating her*
*Making her feel guilty*

Using Isolation

*Controlling what she does,
what she sees and talks to,
what she reads, & where she goes*
*Limiting her outside involvement*
*Using jealousy to justify actions*

Minimizing, Denying, Blaming

*Making light of the abuse and not
taking her concerns about it seriously*
*Saying the abuse didn't happen*
*Shifting responsibility for abusive behavior*
*Saying she caused it*

Using Children

*Making her feel guilty about the children*
*Using the children to relay messages*
*Using visitation to harass her*
*Threatening to take the children away*

Using Male Privilege

*Treating her like a servant*
*Making all the big decisions*
*Acting like the "Master of the castle"*
*Being the one to define men's and women's roles*

Using Economic Abuse

*Preventing her from getting or keeping a job*
*Making her ask for money*
*Giving her an allowance*
*Taking her money*
*Not letting her know about or
have access to family income*

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