Your relationship with your partner may be ending, or may have ended, because of their controlling or abusive behaviour.
When you are in the middle of a breakup or divorce it can be hard to think clearly or make decisions, particularly if you feel your ex is undermining or controlling you.
Domestic abuse is not only about one person being physically violent to the other. It happens when one person controls the other in a family or intimate relationship. There are many different types of abuse including:
- emotional,
- psychological,
- economic, including financial,
- physical and
- sexual.
Abuse can happen via tech and online as well as in real life. Some examples of tech abuse are abusive messaging online, tracking you with spyware, demanding access to your devices and online accounts or sharing intimate images online without your consent This is often called 'tech abuse'.
It can happen at any time and can often get worse when you split up, when your ex may try hard to keep controlling you to make you stay with them.
It can include behaviour by your ex to deliberately hide financial information and assets from you. To learn more about what economic abuse can look like have a look at the Surviving Economic Abuse website.
A child who sees, hears or experiences the effects of the domestic abuse is also a victim of domestic abuse.
There are lots of places you can get free help and support from and you may be able to get legal aid to help you get advice from a solicitor if you are on a low income. You might need protection from the family court to help you move on.
