What is Spiritual Abuse?
What is spiritual abuse?
Spiritual as now a distinct category of abuse in the New Domestic Violence Act in South Africa. Couples who come from culturally distinctive backgrounds can find themselves adopting different cultural practices insofar as how weddings, funerals and the birth of children are concerned. This can prove upsetting to the weaker party who is simultaneously financially dependent and emotionally coerced into forgoing her own practices in favour of the abuser’s practices. Spiritual abuse is the rejection or use of spiritual or religious beliefs and practices to regulate and dominate a person. Spiritual abuse can affect on a someone’s self-esteem and self-confidence, make them feel guilty, harm their spiritual experiences and isolate them.
Spiritual abuse can take place as part of domestic violence and together with other types of abuse, for instance physical abuse, psychological abuse, financial abuse and sexual abuse.
Spiritual abuse includes:
Spiritual as now a distinct category of abuse in the New Domestic Violence Act in South Africa. Couples who come from culturally distinctive backgrounds can find themselves adopting different cultural practices insofar as how weddings, funerals and the birth of children are concerned. This can prove upsetting to the weaker party who is simultaneously financially dependent and emotionally coerced into forgoing her own practices in favour of the abuser’s practices. Spiritual abuse is the rejection or use of spiritual or religious beliefs and practices to regulate and dominate a person. Spiritual abuse can affect on a someone’s self-esteem and self-confidence, make them feel guilty, harm their spiritual experiences and isolate them.
Spiritual abuse can take place as part of domestic violence and together with other types of abuse, for instance physical abuse, psychological abuse, financial abuse and sexual abuse.
Spiritual abuse includes:
- blocking a person from exercising their religion
- misusing spiritual or religious beliefs and practices to validate other types of abuse and violence
- compelling someone to act against their spiritual or religious obligations
- accusing a person of being too religious or not religious enough
- ridiculing someone’s understanding of religious practices or beliefs.
