WHAT IS SEXUAL ABUSE?
Sexual abuse can take many different forms. The following are some of them.

Has the abuser:
-Told anti-women jokes and/or made demeaning remarks about women?
-Treated women as sex abjects?
-Gotten jealous, angry and/or assumed you would or were cheating on him?
-Insisted that you dress in a more sexual way than you wanted?
-Made demeaning remarks about your body?
-Minimized your feelings about sex?
-Berated you about your sexual history?
-Blamed you if you were sexually abused as a child?
-Criticized you sexually - i.e. called you frigid, etc...?
-Insisted on touching you sexually when you did not want to be touched?
-Called you a whore or a slut?
-Withheld sexual affection?
-Forced you to strip when you did not want to?
-Openly showed sexual interest in another woman when you were with him?
-Forced you to engage in sex?
-Forced you to participate in unwanted sexual acts?
-Forced sex when you were sick or it was a danger to you health?
-Forced you to pose for sexual photographs?
-Forced you to have sex with animals?

WHAT IS PHYSICAL ABUSE?
Physical abuse can take many different forms. The following are some of them.

Has the abuser:
-Pushed or shoved you?
-Held you down and kept you from leaving or getting up?
-Bitten you?
-Kicked you?
-Chocked you?
-Hit or punched you?
-Tied or physically restrained you?
-Thrown objects at you which may or may not have hit you?
-Locked you out of your house?
-Abandoned you in a dangerous place?
-Refused to help you when you were sick, injured, or pregnant?
-Forced you to ride in a car when the abuser is driving recklessly?
-Pulled you hair?
-Dragged you?
-Pulled your arms, legs, or other body parts?
-Ripped your clothing?
-Forced you off the road?
-Raped you?
-Threatened you with a weapon?
-Used a weapon on you?
-Hit or beat you with other objects?
-Stabbed you?
-Burned you?

WHAT IS EMOTIONAL ABUSE?
Emotional abuse can take many different forms. The following are some of them.

Has the abuser:
-Ignored your feelings and/or belittled them?
-Ridiculed or insulted women, calling them crazy, emotional, or stupid?
-Withheld approval, appreciation, or affection as punishment?
-Criticized you, calling you names, shouting at you?
-Insulted your freinds and/or family, driving them away from you?
-Humliated you in private or public?
-Kept you from working, controlling your money, made all the decisions?
-Demanded that you seek permission to do anything?
-Taken car keys or money away?
-Destroyed, sold or given away things which are of importance to you?
-Threatened to leave or told you to leave?
-Threatened to hurt your family or freinds?
-Punished or deprived the children when the abuser was angry at you?
-Threatened to kidnap the children if you left?
-Abused pets to hurt you?
-Harassed you about affairs the abuser imagined you were having?
-Manipulated you with lies or contradictions?
-Threatened to kill himself if you left and other forms of blackmail?
-Told you it was your fault, you asked for it, deserved it, liked it, etc.?

DID YOU KNOW

1. That battering is the largest cause of serious injury to women in America? That's more than auto accidents, muggings and rapes combined.

2. A woman is beaten every nine seconds in the United States.

3. Domestic violence is the most under-reported crime in the country, with the actual incidence 10 times higher than is reported.

4. Eighty percent of children who live in homes where domestic violence occurs witness the abuse.

5. Lesbian and gay domestic violence occurs in approximately one-third of these relationships, about as often as in heterosexual relationships.

6. On average, four women are murdered every day by their male partner in the U.S.

7. Women in the U.S. are in nine times more danger in their own homes than they are in the street.

8. About 17 percent of women report experiencing physical or sexual violence during pregnancy

**Statistics from the handbook "From This Day Forward". Published by the Santa Clara County Probation Department in Santa Clara, California.