The Big Picture
Abuse takes different forms. A person might experience physical harm, unwanted sexual activity, emotional harm, misuse of money or property, neglect, bullying, or cyberbullying. More than one type can happen at the same time.
Each type of abuse has a different meaning. Hitting someone is physical abuse, while controlling a person’s money is financial abuse. Bullying involves repeated hurtful behaviour, and cyberbullying uses communication technology to repeatedly intimidate, embarrass, or harass someone.
Understanding these differences helps you recognize the terms and examples used in questions about abuse.
Look for Nova Scotia CCA Notes throughout this page for current provincial guidance.
Quick tip: Tap, click, or press Enter on any term with a dotted underline and an ⓘ icon to see its plain-English definition.
Start Here If You’re Overwhelmed
Focus on these core ideas:
- Physical abuse involves force or violence that causes pain, injury, or sometimes death.
- Sexual abuse involves unwanted or nonconsensual sexual activity. Sexual harassment is one form of sexual abuse.
- Emotional abuse, also called psychological abuse, involves words or actions that cause mental harm.
- Financial abuse involves misuse of another person’s money or property.
- Neglect involves failing to meet the basic needs of a dependent person.
- Bullying and cyberbullying both involve repeated harmful behaviour, but cyberbullying uses communication technology.
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Course Notes: Key Ideas You Need to Know
More Than One Type of Abuse Can Occur
Abuse affects people of all ages and can happen in different settings. A person may experience more than one type of abuse at the same time.
The main forms covered here are physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, financial abuse, neglect, bullying, and cyberbullying.
Nova Scotia CCA Note
Sorrentino’s Canadian Textbook for the Support Worker, 5th Edition teaches the broad abuse categories used throughout this page. In Nova Scotia, the Protection for Persons in Care Act adds a specific reporting rule for care settings covered by the Act. Health facility administrators and service providers, including staff and volunteers, must promptly report all allegations or instances of abuse. (novascotia.ca)
Under this Nova Scotia law, abuse includes physical, psychological, emotional, sexual, neglect, theft, and medical abuse. The Act protects patients and residents age 16 or older in specified hospitals and residential care settings. (novascotia.ca)
Why this matters in Nova Scotia: A CCA working as staff in a setting covered by the Act has a prompt reporting duty when an allegation or instance of abuse occurs.
Official source: Protection for Persons in Care Act
Last checked: September 5, 2026
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse involves deliberately using force against another person’s body. It can cause pain, injury, and sometimes death.
Examples include:
- pinching or pulling hair
- pushing, slapping, or hitting
- shaking or choking
- biting or kicking
- burning or poisoning
- using a weapon
- throwing objects at someone
The key idea is the deliberate use of physical force.
Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse is a nonconsensual sexual act, including touching, that results from a threat, coercion , or force.
Examples include:
- rape or attempted rape
- unwanted touching
- unwanted fondling
- unwanted kissing
- exposing genitals to another person
Sexual harassment is a form of sexual abuse. It includes sexual conduct, comments, gestures, threats, or suggestions.
Emotional or Psychological Abuse
Emotional abuse, also called psychological abuse, involves words or actions that cause mental harm. It often attacks a person’s self-esteem, dignity, sense of worth, or self-confidence.
Examples include:
- repeated insults, name calling, humiliation, rejection, yelling, swearing, or mocking
- insults about a person’s sexual orientation, weight, or ethnic identity
- ignoring someone for long periods
- preventing someone from taking part in preferred activities or visiting family, friends, or others
- threatening to harm the person, someone the person loves, or something the person loves, such as a child or pet
Emotional abuse can affect infants, children, teenagers, adults, and older adults.
Financial Abuse
Financial abuse means misusing another person’s money or property. The abuser usually does this for financial gain.
Examples include:
- stealing money or belongings
- forging a person’s signature
- selling property or possessions without permission
- persuading or tricking someone into changing a will
- persuading or tricking someone into giving up control of finances
- preventing a person from accessing their own money
Financial abuse involves more than theft. It can also involve control, pressure, deception, or unauthorized use of property.
Neglect
Neglect involves failing to meet the basic needs of a dependent person. It can leave the person physically, emotionally, or psychologically uncared for.
People affected by neglect are usually:
- children
- people with disabilities
- frail older persons
Neglect can involve failing to provide a clean, comfortable, and safe environment.
A caregiver may also deny or withhold:
- food
- water
- clothing
- personal care
- medical care
- education
- attention and love
Neglect can happen knowingly. It can also happen unintentionally when a caregiver is unable to provide adequate care.
Bullying
Bullying, also called harassment, is a type of abuse. One person or a group purposely and repeatedly says or does hurtful things to someone else.
The word repeatedly matters. Repetition is part of the definition.
Physical Bullying
Physical bullying includes actions such as:
- hitting
- spitting
- damaging another person’s belongings
Verbal Bullying
Verbal bullying includes:
- name calling
- threats
- teasing
Social Bullying
Social bullying includes:
- spreading rumours
- gossiping
- trying to make another person look foolish
Bullying can happen in different places, including schools and workplaces.
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying, also called cyberabuse, uses communication technology to repeatedly intimidate, embarrass, or harass another person.
Technology used for cyberbullying can include:
- the Internet
- social networking sites
- text messaging
- instant messaging
Cyberbullying is not limited to one age group.
Examples include:
- sending threatening or cruel emails or messages
- posting embarrassing photos
- creating a website that makes fun of someone
- pretending to be another person by using their name
- tricking someone into sharing private or embarrassing information and then sending it to others
Posting untrue statements about another person is illegal.
Effects of Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying can affect people of any age.
Possible effects include:
- stress-related health problems, including headaches and stomachaches
- social anxiety
- loneliness and isolation
- depression
- low self-esteem
- social withdrawal
- aggressive behaviour
- suicidal thoughts or attempts
Hurtful images and messages can also be shared again and again. This repeated distribution can revictimize the person for weeks, months, or even years in extreme cases.
What to Do About Bullying or Cyberbullying
Several actions are identified for a person experiencing bullying or cyberbullying.
- Report criminal offences such as threats, assaults, and sexual exploitation to the local police detachment.
- Report unwanted text messages to the telephone service provider.
- Report online bullying to the social media site and block the person responsible.
- Leave the situation or online conversation.
- Keep a record of the bullying by writing it down or saving screenshots of online messages.
These actions are different depending on what happened and where the bullying occurred.
Sharing Images Without Permission
Digital technology makes it easy to take, edit, post, and redistribute images. Posting pictures electronically to a social media site without the permission of the people pictured is illegal.
When embarrassing or hurtful images spread anonymously online, the person may have difficulty escaping them. Continued sharing can cause repeated harm over a long period.
Intimate Images and Consent
Since March 10, 2015, Canada’s Criminal Code has made it an offence to share an intimate image without the consent of the person shown in the image.
This rule applies to everyone, not only people under age 18.
The purpose of this offence is to protect a person’s privacy concerning nudity or sexual activity.
An intimate image includes an image showing:
- explicit sexual activity
- a sexual organ
- the anal region
- a breast
The person shown must also have had a reasonable expectation of privacy when the image was recorded and must not have given up that privacy interest at the time of the offence.
Distribution of Intimate Images
A person might willingly share an intimate image with a partner and still expect it to remain private. If the partner later distributes the image publicly without consent, that distribution can be a form of cyberbullying.
This is sometimes called “revenge porn” when someone distributes the images publicly as a form of revenge after a relationship ends.
The motivation does not remove the harm. Distribution without consent can damage a person’s self-esteem, reputation, and mental health. In some cases, this behaviour may have contributed to teenagers taking their own lives.
Judges have authority to order the removal of intimate images from the Internet when the images were posted without the consent of the person shown.
Nova Scotia CCA Note
Sorrentino explains the federal Criminal Code offence involving intimate images shared without consent. Nova Scotia also has the Intimate Images and Cyber-protection Act, which gives people additional ways to respond to cyberbullying and unwanted sharing of intimate images. (novascotia.ca)
Nova Scotia’s CyberScan Unit helps victims understand their options and offers voluntary dispute-resolution services . A victim, or the parent or guardian of a victim under age 19, can also apply to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia for a cyber-protection order. These orders can stop further sharing or contact, require content to be taken down or access disabled, refer people to dispute resolution, and award damages . (novascotia.ca)
Why this matters in Nova Scotia: The federal criminal offence and Nova Scotia’s provincial protections are separate. Nova Scotia law gives victims additional ways to respond to cyberbullying and non-consensual sharing of intimate images.
Official source: CyberScan
Last checked: September 5, 2026
Legal Consequences of Distributing Intimate Images Without Consent
A person convicted of distributing an intimate image without consent can face serious consequences.
These include:
- imprisonment for up to 5 years
- seizure of the computer, cell phone, or other device used to share the image
- an order to reimburse the victim for costs related to removing the intimate image from the Internet or elsewhere
The 5-year maximum is an important number to remember.
Exam Clue Words
- Repeatedly: Bullying and cyberbullying involve behaviour that happens again and again.
- Without consent: Sharing an intimate image becomes an offence when the person shown did not consent and the other required privacy conditions are present.
- Report: Different forms of bullying call for different reporting actions, such as contacting police, a telephone service provider, or the social media site.
- Up to 5 years: A conviction for distributing an intimate image without consent can result in imprisonment for as long as five years.
Fast Review
Use these points for a quick final review:
- Physical abuse involves deliberate force and can cause pain, injury, or death.
- Sexual abuse involves unwanted or nonconsensual sexual acts. Sexual harassment is one form of sexual abuse.
- Emotional abuse and psychological abuse refer to words or actions that cause mental harm.
- Financial abuse involves misuse of another person’s money or property.
- Neglect involves failing to meet the basic needs of a dependent person.
- Bullying involves purposeful and repeated hurtful behaviour. It includes physical, verbal, and social bullying.
- Cyberbullying uses communication technology to repeatedly intimidate, embarrass, or harass someone.
- Cyberbullying can contribute to stress-related health problems, isolation, depression, low self-esteem, withdrawal, aggressive behaviour, and suicidal thoughts or attempts.
- Responses to bullying can include reporting criminal acts, reporting unwanted messages or online bullying, blocking the person, leaving the conversation, and keeping records or screenshots.
- Sharing an intimate image without consent is an offence under Canada’s Criminal Code when the required conditions are present.
- The intimate-image offence applies to everyone, not only people under age 18.
- A conviction for distributing an intimate image without consent can lead to imprisonment for up to 5 years, seizure of the device used, and reimbursement of removal costs.
Final Pep Talk
There are several abuse types here, so focus on what makes each one different. Pay extra attention to repeated behaviour, consent, and the examples that separate bullying, cyberbullying, neglect, and other forms of abuse.