Abuse is the misuse, excessive use or improper use of a person or object.
It s not uncommon to abuse television, a car or even a computer or video game system. When the object doesn t work as we want it to it may be kicked, thrown, hit or smashed and the only person who suffers is the owner of the object. When the abuse is of a person, everyone involved suffers. It is estimated that over 12 million cases of abuse occur in the United States each year. However, as abuse takes many forms each with their own ramifications, secrets and shames abuse is not always reported so the statistics regarding the number of abuse cases may actually be incorrect or incomplete.