Are you being abused?

If you are a victim of abuse, or think you may be, do not hesitate to call and speak with one of our staff.  A professional counsellor is available 24 hours, every day of the week. Our crisis line is toll free and confidential. 1-800-263-3247.

Signs that you are in an abusive relationship

Keep a checklist, if your partner does any of the following you may be at risk for abuse:

• Speak badly about other people in your life so that you won’t associate with them anymore
• Have a bad temper
• Constantly find fault in you or in others
• Always have to win
• Over competitive with your time and attention
• Refuses to discuss their feelings and then blows up when you push the subject
• Disapprove of how you spend your money or how you dress
• Doesn’t understand the difference between affection and sex
• Drive too fast or other similar scary things
• Accuse you of lying
• Demand to know where you are at all times
• Constantly becomes jealous or angry when you want to spend time with your friends or family
• Makes fun of other people and enjoys humour that embarrasses others including yourself
• Cannot laugh at themselves
• Find it hard to apologize or take responsibility when they’ve done something wrong
• Act as if they know everything but are actually very insecure
• Doesn’t take no for an answer
• Threaten to harm you or themselves if you leave the relationship, they may threaten suicide
• Twists the truth to make you feel you are to blame for their actions
• Uses the phrase “if you really loved me you would…”
• Calls you offensive or derogatory names
• Humiliates or embarrasses you in front of other people
• Threatens you with physical violence, abandonment, or harm to others you love
• Threatens to harm themselves if you don’t comply with their wishes
• Expresses excessive jealousy about your friends and family
• Expresses excessive jealousy over friends of the opposite sex
• Isolates you from friends, family, or your local community
• Tries to control what you wear, eat, say, spend time with, spend money on, etc
• Blames you for their actions or mistakes
• Threatens to ‘out’ you as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender person
• Threatens to infect you with an illness, such as a sexually transmitted disease
• Withholds medication, or threatens to withhold medication
• Pressures you into having sexual contact you do not want
• Becomes violent or controlling when she or he is under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• Is violent towards other people or animals
• Steals money from you, or does not allow you access to your own money
• Attempts to forbid you from working or making money

Answering yes to any number of these questions may indicate that you are in an abusive relationship. Get help now.