Discriminatory abuse targets who you are: your race or culture, gender, age, beliefs, health, disability or background. In a relationship, it can be the steady message that the way you were born or what you believe makes you less.
Signs of discriminatory abuse
- Remarks or "jokes" about your background, gender, body or health.
- Resentment or contempt for an illness or disability, as if it's a choice.
- Treating you as unequal because of your beliefs or spiritual path.
- Using stereotypes to dismiss what you say or feel.
- Excluding you from decisions, family or community because of who you are.
What it looked like for me
My health struggles were held against me, and my spiritual path was treated as making me "unequal" because it no longer fit someone else's beliefs. More in My Story.
Reclaiming your self-worth
- Name it to yourself: this is about their beliefs, not your worth.
- Spend time with people who share or respect who you are.
- In some places, discrimination tied to abuse is covered by law. A help line or legal aid service can tell you more.
Tools that help with discriminatory abuse
Building awareness: Your Wish Is Your Command.
The principle behind the healing: Honouring Life in All Forms, including your own. See Principles for Living.
Shadow work: questions to journal
- What part of who I am have I been hiding or apologizing for?
- Whose judgment have I absorbed as my own?
- What would it feel like to be fully myself in every room?
Owning your patterns never means owning their abuse.