You Deserve Safety
Domestic and Family Violence is not always visible. It doesn’t always leave bruises. It can be silent, controlling, isolating, and it can happen to anyone, in any kind of relationship.
At its core, domestic violence is about power and control. It includes a pattern of abusive behaviours used to intimidate, dominate, or isolate someone. These behaviours may be:
What Is Domestic and Family Violence?
Violence can happen in any kind of relationship, including between partners, family members, carers, housemates, or even from children toward parents. It’s not always easy to name what’s happening, especially when it’s someone you care about or depend on.
Recognising Abuse in All Its Forms
Physical Abuse
- Hitting, pushing, choking, restraining
- Throwing objects or damaging property
- Using physical intimidation or threats of harm
What is Physical Abuse? →
Emotional & Psychological Abuse
- Gaslighting, manipulation, or constant criticism
- Blaming you for their behaviour
- Making you feel worthless, anxious or crazy
What is Psychological Abuse? →
Coercive Control
- Controlling your movements, appearance, or decisions
- Monitoring phone or social media
- Creating a constant atmosphere of fear
What is Coercive Control? →
Sexual Violence
- Pressuring, coercing or forcing sexual activity
- Sabotaging birth control or refusing contraception
- Using sex as a form of punishment or control
What is Sexual Violence? →
Verbal Abuse & Threats
- Shouting, name-calling, humiliation
- Threats of harm to you, your loved ones, or themselves
- Using fear to silence or control you
What is Verbal Abuse →
Financial Abuse
- Controlling money, bank access or income
- Forcing debt or withholding basic needs
- Preventing you from working or studying
What is Financial Abuse? →
Social Isolation
- Cutting you off from friends, family or support
- Making you feel alone, dependent or ashamed
- Creating mistrust of others to keep you isolated
What are the Signs of Social Isolation? →
Stalking & Surveillance
- Repeated, unwanted contact or following
- Using GPS, spyware, or hidden cameras
- Showing up uninvited or monitoring your online activity
What is Stalking? →
Cultural or Spiritual Abuse
- Using religion or culture to shame or control
- Preventing you from practising your beliefs
- Forcing you to follow religious or cultural practices against your will
What is Spiritual Abuse? →
Technology-Facilitated Abuse
- Cyberstalking, revenge porn, or online harassment
- Controlling or monitoring devices, emails, or accounts
- Impersonating you or sharing private content without consent
What is Tech Abuse? →
Visa Abuse & Immigration Threats
- Threatening deportation or withholding visa papers
- Using your migration status to silence you
- Preventing you from seeking help due to fear of the authorities
What is Visa Abuse →
Parental Abuse by a Child
- Verbal or physical aggression toward a parent or carer
Modern Slavery, Exploitation & Forced Marriage
- Forced marriage is being pressured, threatened, or deceived into marrying someone against your will
- Control over your freedom, movements, or relationships
- Labour or domestic exploitation, especially in carer roles or isolated environments
- Often hidden within family, cultural, or religious expectations, and may involve threats related to immigration or visa status
You have the right to choose if, when, and who you marry regardless of your age, visa, or background.
What is Modern Slavery? →
Gaslighting
Gaslighting is a form of emotional abuse where someone deliberately tries to confuse you, manipulate you, or make you doubt your own memory, feelings, or sense of reality.
Over time, gaslighting can make you question your judgment, feel anxious or “unstable,” and become more dependent on the person causing harm.
Gaslighting may involve:
- Denying things that clearly happened
- Twisting facts or rewriting events
- Minimising your feelings
- Suggesting you are overreacting or imagining things
- Making you doubt your memory
Gaslighting can sound like:
- “You’re too sensitive.”
- “You’re overreacting.”
- “That never happened.”
- “You must be remembering it wrong.”
- “You need help.”
- “You’re exaggerating.”
- “You’re crazy.”
If someone repeatedly makes you question your reality, that is not healthy conflict; it is control.
What is Gaslighting →
Love Bombing
Love bombing is a tactic sometimes used to create emotional dependency. It involves overwhelming someone with intense affection, attention, promises, or gifts early in a relationship in order to gain influence or control.
It can feel exciting and flattering at first. Over time, however, it may shift into pressure, control, or withdrawal of affection.
Love bombing may involve:
- Excessive gift-giving or grand gestures
- Constant messaging or contact
- Rapid declarations of love or future plans
- Rushing commitment
- Discouraging independence
- Wanting all of your time and attention
What makes love bombing concerning is not affection itself; it’s the speed, intensity, and the shift that often follows.
Healthy relationships grow steadily. They don’t pressure, isolate, or overwhelm.
Abuse is not always loud or physical. Sometimes it slowly erodes your confidence, clarity, and sense of self.
What is Love Bombing? →
Where to Start
- You don’t have to prove it’s abuse if it feels wrong; that’s enough.
- You don’t have to leave to get support. Many services offer guidance whether you’re staying, leaving, or unsure.
- You don’t have to do it alone.
