Family Violence Services - Victoria

• Emotional abuse – taking away your sense of self, bullying, manipulating or threatening you
• Physical abuse – physical violence or taking away control of your body
• Sexual abuse – forcing you to engage in unwanted sexual or close contact or sexual conversation
• Financial abuse – using money, finances or work options to control you
• Social abuse – controlling who you’re in contact with, when or how often you are in contact with people
• Stalking – following or tracking you in real life or online without your consent
• Psychological abuse – making you doubt yourself, tormenting you; or threatening to hurt you or a loved one
• Technological abuse – controlling access to technology, tracking you, monitoring your devices

Sometimes the signs of abuse are not obvious. No one else may know you’re being abused. You can feel like it’s your fault (it’s not) or that it’s normal (it isn’t). Nothing you say or do makes it OK for someone to hurt you.

If someone is making you feel unsafe or uncomfortable in any way, is trying to control or manipulate you, or is harming you in any way – that’s abuse. It’s ok to talk about it with someone and it’s ok to ask for help. You deserve to be respected and feel safe, always. If you don’t feel safe, please reach out to us or call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800 RESPECT