JDA Magazine May 2025 Paperturn - Flipbook - Page 25
DC A F
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UNDERSTANDING DOMESTIC ABUSE
Claudio Guidoni writes:
Sumita Baines from Sign
Health ran a workshop
on the sensitive subject
of Domestic Abuse.
It was a safe space for us
to discuss the issue and
ask questions. Sumita
started with thought-provoking questions and
asked what we understand about Domestic Abuse.
Our responses included: “problems that happen
at home” and “when a couple 昀椀ght and the man
punches the woman”. Sumita said people think
that abuse comes from men, but it can come from
women too — and many more things are also
considered domestic abuse.
Domestic Abuse may be physical or mental and
includes many examples. Physical abuse is to
physically hurt another person, male or female.
This can include abuse in a relationship, partnership
or marriage and can come from men or women.
It does not need to be extreme violence — if a person
in昀氀icts pain on another, this is deemed abuse.
Sumita also explained what Mental Abuse may look
like. Mental abuse includes bullying and torment.
I learnt that the powerful nature of verbal abuse
includes making hurtful comments, insults, personal
remarks and the use of communication, via spoken
or sign language, to purposely destroy someone’s
self-con昀椀dence. When a person is told unkind things
about themselves, including how they look or how
they behave, these ‘mind-games’ start to weaken
your self-con昀椀dence, and a person can easily start
to believe those things are true. Once a victim, a
person may easily be controlled by another.
Mental abuse also includes emotional blackmail —
when a person uses control to in昀氀uence another
person. They may frighten the other person, make
them feel guilty or use emotions to force behaviour.
Some comments seem harmless and can
easily fool a person to believe them. They can
manipulate you with gentle body language and a
smile. This is very di昀케cult to understand. It may
not look like a crime — but it is.
People can also fall victim to 昀椀nancial control, and
this can also be very di昀케cult to spot. For example,
a partner or friend can ask for your bank card and
want to be in control of your money. This can lead
to 昀椀nancial abuse and so we need to be careful to
manage our money and not allow others to make
decisions about how we spend it.
The same can be said for sexual abuse. If your
partner wants to engage in a sexual act, and you
do not want to, then you have the right to say No.
If a partner’s behaviour changes, becomes violent
or puts you under pressure, this is not acceptable.
If a person is forced to engage in a sexual act, this
is rape as it is not consensual — it is a crime.
A big thank you to Sumita for this fantastic
presentation! She will come back for part two
with the topic of ‘Grooming’. Make sure you
join us and don’t miss out on accessing full
information in BSL about this important topic
— it might prevent you becoming a victim!
If you are worried about a relationship,
or concerned about any personal issue,
please talk to JDA. You can trust us
— we are always here to support you,
con昀椀dentially. Arrange a private chat
with our sta昀昀.
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