Forms of Abuse

Domestic and family violence can take many forms. It is rarely just one behaviour; perpetrators often use multiple tactics at the same time to maintain control.

Understanding these forms helps victims, families, and communities recognise abuse and take steps toward safety.

The Power & Control Wheel

The Power & Control Wheel is a globally recognised tool that illustrates how abuse works in relationships. It highlights the tactics perpetrators use to dominate and control their partners.


Abuse is not only physical; it can include intimidation, emotional manipulation, financial control, isolation, and other behaviours that undermine safety and independence.

Financial Abuse Wheel

Financial abuse is one of the most common and least recognised forms of abuse. It occurs when perpetrators use money to create dependency or limit freedom.


This might include withholding access to income, sabotaging employment, controlling how money is spent, or creating debt in the victim’s name.

Technology-Facilitated Abuse Wheel

Technology can be used as another tool for control. Perpetrators may monitor movements, track communications, spread abuse online, or use digital surveillance to intimidate and isolate victims.

 

Technology-facilitated abuse can feel inescapable and intrusive, blurring the boundaries between private and public life.

What is Coercive Control?

Coercive control is a pattern of behaviours designed to dominate and isolate. While not always physical, it is now recognised as a serious form of abuse and, in some places, a criminal offence

It can include:

Person, slumped over, seated on a block, hand to head, expressing sadness.

Isolating someone from friends or family

Person in circle with an arrow path to a check mark in circle, indicating a process.

Monitoring movements, phone or online activity

Hand holding a coin with a dollar sign.

Controlling finances

Figure of an adult raising a stick towards a child who is recoiling, suggesting abuse.

Threatening harm to pets or children

Worried face with frowning eyebrows and mouth.

Using intimidation and manipulation to create fear

Coercive control involves ongoing patterns of behaviour, a calculated attempt to erode autonomy and create dependency.

Why Understanding Forms of Abuse Matters

Recognising that abuse comes in many forms is an essential step in identifying unsafe relationships.


  • Victims may minimise abuse if it doesn’t involve visible injuries.
  • Non-physical forms of abuse, like financial or technological abuse, can be just as damaging.
  • By naming these tactics, communities can better support those affected and challenge the behaviours that enable domestic and family violence.