{"id":383,"date":"2026-01-27T10:11:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T10:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/?page_id=383"},"modified":"2026-01-27T10:17:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T10:17:07","slug":"domestic-abuse","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/violence-against-women-vaw\/domestic-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Domestic Abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kb-image383_790bd3-42.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .kb-image383_790bd3-42 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{max-width:484px;width:100%;}.wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image383_790bd3-42.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image383_790bd3-42 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{align-self:unset;}.kb-image383_790bd3-42{max-width:484px;}.image-is-svg.kb-image383_790bd3-42{-webkit-flex:0 1 100%;flex:0 1 100%;}.image-is-svg.kb-image383_790bd3-42 img{width:100%;}.kb-image383_790bd3-42 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image383_790bd3-42 size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"578\" src=\"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2026\/01\/ESAW-stats-of-domestic-abuse-1024x578.jpg\" alt=\"Equally Safe at Work graphic: 1 in 4 women experience domestic abuse in their lifetime in Scotland\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2026\/01\/ESAW-stats-of-domestic-abuse-1024x578.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2026\/01\/ESAW-stats-of-domestic-abuse-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2026\/01\/ESAW-stats-of-domestic-abuse-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2026\/01\/ESAW-stats-of-domestic-abuse-1536x867.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2026\/01\/ESAW-stats-of-domestic-abuse-2048x1156.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2026\/01\/ESAW-stats-of-domestic-abuse-1520x858.jpg 1520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Domestic abuse&nbsp;impacts more than home life. Stress, trauma and physical injuries can make it difficult for a victim-survivor&nbsp;of domestic abuse to do their work as normal or result in unexplained lateness or absence. They may require to take time away from work to access resources&nbsp;or&nbsp;legal&nbsp;support or&nbsp;attend GP appointments. The impact of abuse can also cause some to leave work or work in posts that underutilise their skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This can also impact colleagues as they may have to cover for lateness and absence or protect the victim-survivor from unwanted attention, phone calls or visits. Witnessing a colleague dealing with abuse and feeling unable to help\u00a0can negatively impact on staff mental health and can be (re-)traumatising for other victim-survivors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a>Emotional Abuse<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Abuse doesn&#8217;t have to be physical. Emotional abuse can include threats and intimidation (e.g. shouting, agressive behaviour such as&nbsp;throwing\/breaking household goods or punching holes in walls), criticism (e.g. namecalling, making derogatory comments about one&#8217;s&nbsp;body, behaviours or personality), undermining and gaslighting (dismissing one&#8217;s opinion, making one&nbsp;doubt their&nbsp;thoughts and memories), making one&nbsp;feel guilty (e.g. with threats of hurting themselves or someone else), and controlling and alienation (telling one&nbsp;what to do\/wear\/say, making one&nbsp;stop seeing other people or convincing them&nbsp;to stop contact with friends and family).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a>Financial and Economic&nbsp;Abuse<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Financial abuse can include withholding money, controlling household income, keeping finances secret, building up debt (either jointly or in their partner&#8217;s name), and even keeping their partner&nbsp;from working. Economic abuse is a broader term that encompasses restricting access to essential resources and services (food, transport, clothing). It&#8217;s a way of removing a person&#8217;s independence and making them feel incapable of caring for themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Domestic abuse&nbsp;impacts more than home life. Stress, trauma and physical injuries can make it difficult for a victim-survivor&nbsp;of domestic abuse to do their work as normal or result in unexplained<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"parent":378,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-383","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"rachelhallows","author_link":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/author\/rachelhallows\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":false,"rttpg_excerpt":"Domestic abuse&nbsp;impacts more than home life. Stress, trauma and physical injuries can make it difficult for a victim-survivor&nbsp;of domestic abuse to do their work as normal or result in unexplained","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":386,"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/383\/revisions\/386"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staff.nhslothian.scot\/genderbasedviolence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}