What is domestic abuse?
Domestic abuse can take many forms but there is support available.
Everyone has the right to live safely, free from abuse and neglect – regardless of age. However, if you feel at risk yourself, or you're concerned about someone else, it's important to remember that there's help available.
Adults with care and support needs – for example, a disability, health condition or mental illness – can be at an increased risk of abuse and neglect, and less able to protect themselves from harm.
Safeguarding is the protection of the rights of those at risk. The Care Act 2014 sets out duties for local councils so that they must make enquiries when concerns about abuse or neglect arise. One of the aims of a safeguarding enquiry is to work out whether action is needed to safeguard an adult and, if so, what action is needed.
We go into more detail about the many forms of abuse and neglect below. Incidents of abuse and neglect may be one-off or they may be multiple, and they can affect one person or more. Someone can also be affected by more than one type of abuse at the same time.
To find out more about each form of abuse and neglect, click on the titles below.
Many of the types of abuse listed here (physical abuse, financial abuse, sexual abuse) will also be domestic abuse if they're perpetrated by someone you're connected to, such as:
Any person of any age and any gender can experience domestic abuse, including older people.
Physical abuse can include:
It doesn’t have to be repeated – any single act of physical abuse is serious.
Psychological abuse can include:
This type of abuse can be very subtle and tricky to identify – it may be that you feel like you’re walking on eggshells. It can even be experienced alongside overwhelming feelings of love and happiness.
Often it’s a case of one person manipulating another to feel confused and a sense that they're to blame for the abuse they're experiencing.
This can include:
Find out more about financial abuse
Anyone can commit financial abuse – a relative, a partner or a criminal. Unfortunately, financial scams are getting more sophisticated.
Neglect can include:
Other examples include limiting your access to food, drink, medication or heating, restricting support with personal care, or not supporting you to attend medical appointments.
Self-neglect can include a wide range of activities such as hoarding or neglecting personal care which may impact on your own health or others. It can include a refusal to accept help with health and care needs.
Self-neglect must be considered alongside the Mental Capacity Act. We have the right to make what others may see as unwise decisions, even when they may impact on our long term wellbeing.
Sexual abuse can include:
No matter when sexual abuse occurs, even if it was years ago, it still matters. There's specific support available through the government's campaign, It Still Matters.
Find out more about the campaign and the support available on GOV.UK
If you're mistreated or treated less favourably than other people based on your protected characteristics, this could be discriminatory abuse. Your protected characteristics are:
For example, your religious or cultural needs may be neglected if you're not allowed to pray at certain times or your requirement for halal meat isn't respected.
Organisational abuse can include an incident or pattern of incidents involving ongoing ill-treatment within an organisation. This could involve neglect, acts of omission or poor practice as a result of inadequate structures, policies and practice.
An organisation could be:
Modern slavery can include slavery, human trafficking and domestic servitude. This can appear in different forms, such as:
If you're experiencing, or are at risk of, abuse or neglect – or you're concerned that someone else is – get in touch with your local authority's adult safeguarding team. To do this, you first need to find the contact details of your local council.
Find your local council on GOV.UK
If you're unsure of who to contact, you can:
When you report abuse to the adult safeguarding team at your local council, they'll listen to the information you give them and assess what action is required. They'll ensure that you feel in control of what happens.
If you're the person at risk, you can ask for someone who you trust to support you, or you can ask for an advocate. If you have difficulties, or don't have the mental capacity to engage with the process, the local council may have a duty to appoint an advocate.
If you're not the person at risk and you reported concerns about someone else, then the same applies for them – they can ask for someone they trust or an advocate, and in some situations, the local council may have a duty to appoint them an advocate.
If you’re at risk of further abuse, the adult safeguarding team will work with you to plan how you can stay safe. You must be fully involved at every stage of this process.
We offer support through our free advice line on 0800 678 1602. Lines are open 8am-7pm, 365 days a year. We also have specialist advisers at over 120 local Age UKs.
Domestic abuse can take many forms but there is support available.
If someone's misusing or stealing your money it could be financial abuse.
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