Psychological abuse is all forms of emotional abuse and injuries to the person. Unfortunately, it is not easy to discern because there are no visible scars or wounds. Various other forms of abuse, like financial abuse, physical violence, stalking etc., are frequently intertwined with Psychological violence. The severe injuries to the person are mainly due to direct psychological and verbal threats,insults , intimidations and controlling behaviours by the abuser.

Some of the ways abusers intentionally violate their targeted victims to diminish their self-worth can be defined as follows:-

Humiliation is a form of embarrassment.

Abuse: verbal, physical or mistreatment.

Slander:-false statements to damage the victim’s reputation also termed as character assassination.

Harassment is any unwanted behaviour that makes a reasonable person feel uncomfortable, humiliated, distressed or ridiculed in public or in front of her children.

Spouses, ex-partners or family members usually carry out psychological abuse in the domestic sphere. The perpetrators’ main goal is to control their victims and gain power over them. The violence, even if not physical, goes hand-in-hand with extreme jealousy, controlling and authoritarian behaviour.

Psychological abuse is a recycled toxic abuse with very harsh effects on its victim. The fact that there are no visible bruises may produce severe effects from victims doubting their sanity, and not being able to comprehend the reality of their situation,creating deep feelings of unworthiness and suppressed fear and anxiety. The family and friends might even be unaware since most abusers are narcissistic by character and very smart and charismatic in public. Psychological abuse is also very subtle and difficult to analyse; it often starts slow and progresses in unpredictable ways over long periods before the victim can accept their dangerous situation.

This article is a shout-out to all of us to be on the lookout without crossing personal boundaries regarding what is happening within our families and friends. If you perceive a change of regular character in them, initiate a conversation, even just a phone call using sentences like.

“How are you doing?” and “If you ever need to talk,l am there for you.”;.if they want to talk to someone, help them make contact and assure them there is help within kwig.e.V and they are not alone.

At Kwig .e.V, we have a Domestic Violence & Abuse (DVA)Team: Contact_hotline numbers or Facebook Messenger.

Jane Gitonga Tüschen-015731050902

Ruth Nagi-015731050951

Charity Wairimu Ngugi Latz-015731050950

Content Written by : Charity Wairimu Ngugi -Latz: Community Manager @ Kwig.e.V

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