Pulling on one’s clothing can be considered physical abuse, but can easily be sexual in its manner. Emotional abuse can be around controlling one’s food intake, possibly resulting in an eating disorder which can have severe physical consequences.

Abuse is complicated, messy, it is done in private, it is done out in the open.

There is no one abusive situation that looks the same. While the information and examples on this website are meant to be helpful in identifying abuse, it will never cover all of the abusive tactics that are used.

If you think something is off, explore it.

Abuse is not straight forward and can be hard to identify. But there is a pattern to abuse and once you can identify one part, it can become easier to identify the rest. If you can identify the start of abuse, you can stop it from becoming as bad as the other person’s situation.

Trust your gut.

Your life and well-being after sport matter.

Even if you think the abuse is making you a better athlete, sport is temporary and the aftermath of abuse can last a lifetime. Don’t make the deal with the devil.

You are worth more than your sport.