Abuse, or the mistreatment of oneself or another being, can come in many forms both subtle and extreme: drug, alcohol or substance abuse, cutting or other forms of self harm; verbal, physical, psychological, emotional, financial, medical or sexual abuse; child, elder or animal abuse; medical neglect; abuse of power, authority, information, or research; discriminatory abuse, legal abuse, hate crimes; harassment, bullying, controlling and cyberbullying; human trafficking, female genital mutilation, enforced sexual slavery or child soldiers; or intimidation, isolation, peer abuse, coercion or humiliation. All different, yet all abuse.
The effects of such abuse are profound. It can undermine relationships and cause both physical pain and psychological distress. Consistently, increased health risks and specific negative behaviours have been found to be associated with a history of abuse in individuals. Research focused on adverse childhood experiences by the Adverse Childhood Exposure (ACE) Study (Felitti et al, 1998) posits that there is a strong and graded relationship between ten different adverse childhood experiences, including emotional and physical neglect and sexual and physical abuse, with risk factors for death and disease.
Abuse: A Global Inclusive Interdisciplinary Project
Saturday 4th July 2020 – Sunday 5th July 2020
Submissions are now open.