Categories of abuse
| TYPE OF ABUSIVE ENCOUNTER | DEFINITION |
|---|---|
| Minor incidents | |
| • Disrespectful behaviour | Abuser was rude or disrespectful |
| • Bullying | Abuser was belittling or professionally humiliating |
| • Verbal anger | Abuser was loud, angry, insulting, but not threatening |
| • Verbal threats | Abuser was loud, angry, insulting, and threatening |
| • Humiliation | Personal insults, name calling, or gestures perceived as decreasing your self-esteem or as humiliating |
| Major incidents | |
| • Physical aggression | Abuser was throwing objects, slamming doors, kicking, or gesturing but did not damage persons or property |
| • Destructive behaviour | Abuser broke or smashed objects and was kicking or striking out toward and causing damage to possessions and property but not to any persons |
| • Sexual harassment | Abuser spoke, looked, or gestured in a manner that you perceived as an unwanted sexual advance |
| Severe incidents | |
| • Assault | Abuser was hitting, punching, kicking, pulling, or pinching you without causing injury |
| • Assault causing injury | Abuser was hitting, punching, kicking, pulling, or pinching you causing injury |
| • Attempted assault | Abuser broke, smashed, kicked, or was striking out toward you but not physically hitting or harming you |
| • Sexual assault | Abuser physically touched or assaulted you in a manner you perceived as unwanted and of a sexual nature |
| • Stalking | Abuser monitored, followed, or stalked you |
Data from Miedema et al.8