What is emotional abuse?

Emotional abuse is when someone makes you feel:

A montage of 3 images. The first is a man looking sad with his hand on his head. The second is a woman looking scared. The third is a woman sitting on the ground with her head on her knees, covering her face

sad
scared
not important.

They might:

A montage of 6 images. The first is a man and woman standing together and laughing while another woman is standing alone, looking upset. The second is a man yelling and raising his hand to a girl, who is looking away. The third is a woman threatening another woman, who looks scared. The fourth is a woman threatening to hurt a young man. The fifth is a girl trying to talk to a young man, but he isn’t listening. The sixth is a man yelling and pointing at a girl.

make fun of you or laugh at you
call you names
threaten you
bully you
ignore you
blame you for things you didn't do.

They might not:

A montage of 3 images. The first is a man with one hand raised and the other pointing at himself. The second is a girl trying to talk to a young man, but he isn’t listening. The third is a man holding a hand out to say stop.

give you things you need
listen to you
believe what you tell them.

All of these things are wrong.

Anyone could abuse you, including:

A montage of 6 images. The first is a man getting angry at a woman, who is looking down. The second is a young man with a fist clenched, threatening to hit another man. The third is a support worker looking frustrated and grabbing an older woman by the arm. The fourth is 3 young people in a kitchen together. The fifth is a group of women talking about a man behind his back. The sixth is a group of young people talking and pointing at a girl who looks upset.

family
friends
carers or other people who support you
neighbours or people you live with
people you work with
members of your community.

A young man shrugging with his hands in the air

The person abusing you might not know what they're doing is wrong.

You might feel too scared to:

A young man putting his hand up to say something

speak out

A woman putting her hand out to say stop

stop them.

You might not know how to get help.

A woman has her hand over her mouth while another woman is talking to her

They might make it hard for you to tell anyone.

If emotional abuse happens to you, it is important to speak out.

You should tell someone you trust as soon as you can.

Who can help you?

An icon of a person looking sad with a phone icon

If you want to report emotional abuse, call the Disability Abuse and Neglect Hotline on

1800 880 052

An advocate is a person who can help you or speak up for you.

If you would like support from an advocate, call People With disabilities WA on

(08) 9420 7279

1800 193 331

If you want to make a complaint about a disability service, contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission:

1800 035 544

contactcentre@ndiscommission.gov.au

www.ndiscommission.gov.au

Fiona's Story

A girl looking sad with her hand on her face

My Dad treats me like dirt. He always tells me that I'm ugly and that I'm a loser. He said it so much that I started to believe him.

I was hiding this problem from the people at school. I always pretended that I was fine and that I was feeling confident and great.

There's a really nice counsellor at my school. In one of our classes, she explained the different kinds of abuse to us and I realised that my Dad was emotionally abusing me.

After the class, I spoke to the counsellor privately and told her what was happening to me. She helped me understand that it's not ok for Dad to treat me like this. She organised for a meeting with my Mum so that we could explain how bad I've been feeling.

Now my Dad's having some counselling himself and I'm spending more time at my Mum's place.

I'm glad I asked for help.

How to get help

Download the factsheet

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