Behind the scenes The stage is set, costumes are ready, and the actors know their lines like the back of their hands. Audience members wait for the show to start. Abuse or violence in a relationship is about a pattern of behavior one person uses against another to intimidate them and to get them to do what they want. Abuse comes in different forms such as physical, emotional and sexual, the latter two can be just as harmful as physical abuse. Research shows that in relationships, males are most likely to be the abusers, and females are most likely to be the victims.
Females can also be abusive.
In lesbian and homosexual relationships the same abuse patterns occur. Emotional abuse is when a person puts their partner down, ignores them or calls them names. It may be about what their partner is wearing or how they feel their partner is acting. They may want their partner to stop spending time with their friends and question them about every detail of what they have done without them. The abuser may use jealousy or anger to intimidate their partner or to control their behavior or they might deliberately humiliate them in front of others.