Forms of Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse:

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  Verbal and emotional abuse can include, but are not limited to, yelling, insults, putdowns, degrading comments, blaming you for the abuse, and threats.

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  Economic/ financial abuse can include, but is not limited to, not letting you have access to money, taking your money, hiding financial information, taking out loans or accruing other debt in your name, and interfering with your ability to work.

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  Physical violence/abuse can include, but is not limited to, hitting, slapping, punching, confinement (locking you in), strangulation (choking), and smothering.

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  Threats of physical violence can include, but are not limited to, destroying property, punching holes in walls, throwing things at you, and threatening to hurt you.

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  Sexual violence/abuse can include, but is not limited to, sexual assault, manipulation or threats used to coerce you to do sexual acts that you do not want to agree to, nonconsensual recording and sharing of intimate photos or videos.

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  Coercive control is a pattern of behaviour that may include but is not limited to regulation of all activities, strategic use of isolation, limiting opportunities for social support, acute jealousy, degradation, limiting your opportunities for independence, psychological abuse, and gaslighting.

• Legal abuse can include deliberately causing delays, disrupting the legal process, making repeated requests for changes to orders, repeated efforts to return to court, making vexatious motions, refusing to provide documents requested by the courts, destroying your documents or evidence, disobeying court orders, making false reports to the police or falsely alleging abuse or giving other false information in court, interfering with your ability to retain legal counsel.

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  Spiritual/religious abuse can include using religious beliefs/faith to justify abuse and/or to control you, speaking about your beliefs in a derogatory way, or interfering with your ability to practice your faith.

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  Using children in abuse can include having children report your activities, instructing children to hit you or call you names, or telling children untrue and harmful things about you.

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  Abusing animals or threatening to abuse animals can include physically abusing animals, emotionally abusing animals [e.g. scaring], neglecting [e.g. preventing proper feeding or veterinary care], threatening, or killing animals.

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  Technology-facilitated abuse is “when someone uses technology to harm or control you. It can look like harassing text or social media messages, restricting access to technology, nonconsensually sharing intimate images, using location-tracking technology, or threatening to do any of these.”
  (Women’s Shelters Canada, 2025).