The Care Act 2014 promotes individual well-being, including protection from abuse and neglect.
The following is a list of the types of abuse and neglect that can occur and details the possible indicators/signs to be aware of.
This can include assault, hitting, slapping, punching, kicking, hair-pulling, biting, pushing but is not exhaustive to:
- Rough handling
- Scalding and burning
- Physical punishments
- Inappropriate or unlawful use of restraint
- Making someone purposefully uncomfortable (e.g. opening a window and removing blankets)
- Involuntary isolation or confinement
- Misuse of medication (e.g. over-sedation)
- Forcible feeding or withholding food
- Unauthorised restraint, restricting movement (e.g. tying someone to a chair)
Domestic abuse is any type of violence - or other abuse this includes people who are:
- Married or in a relationship
- Family members
- Living together
- Previously in a relationship
Both people must be aged 16 or over.
It can emerge through many other types of abuse: physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, financial, or threatening behaviour.
Sexual abuse is any sexual activity where a person has been forced or persuaded to take part or does not understand, such as:
- Rape, attempted rape or sexual assault
- Inappropriate touch anywhere
- Non- consensual masturbation of either or both persons
- Non- consensual sexual penetration or attempted penetration of the vagina, anus or mouth
- Any sexual activity that the person lacks the capacity to consent to
- Inappropriate looking, sexual teasing or innuendo or sexual harassment
- Sexual photography or forced use of pornography or witnessing of sexual acts
- Indecent exposure
Emotional abuse is sometimes called psychological abuse and can cause serious harm, such as:
- Enforced social isolation – preventing someone accessing services, educational and social opportunities and seeing friends
- Removing mobility or communication aids or intentionally leaving someone unattended when they need assistance
- Preventing someone from meeting their religious and cultural needs
- Preventing the expression of choice and opinion
- Failure to respect privacy
- Preventing stimulation, meaningful occupation or activities
- Intimidation, coercion, harassment, use of threats, humiliation, bullying, swearing or verbal abuse
- Addressing a person in a patronising or infantilising way
- Threats of harm or abandonment
- Cyber bullying.
Financial abuse is the theft or misuse of money, property, or personal belongings, taken without consent or under pressure. Examples include, but not limited to:
- Theft of money or possessions
- Fraud, scamming
- Preventing a person from accessing their own money, benefits or assets
- Employees taking a loan from a person using the service
- Undue pressure, duress, threat or undue influence put on the person in connection with loans, wills, property, inheritance or financial transactions
- Arranging less care than is needed to save money to maximise inheritance
- Denying assistance to manage/monitor financial affairs
- Denying assistance to access benefits
- Misuse of personal allowance in a care home
- Misuse of benefits or direct payments in a family home
- Someone moving into a person’s home and living rent free without agreement or under duress
- False representation, using another person’s bank account, cards or documents
- Exploitation of a person’s money or assets, for example unauthorised use of a car
- Misuse of a power of attorney, deputy, appointee ship or other legal authority
- Rogue trading – for example unnecessary or overpriced property repairs and failure to carry out agreed repairs or poor workmanship.
Modern Slavery is where an individual is exploited, forced to work, or sold. It involves the recruitment and movement of individuals using threats, deception, and coercion for the purpose of exploitation. Examples include but not limited to:
- Human trafficking
- Forced labour
- Domestic servitude
- Sexual exploitation, such as escort work, prostitution and pornography
- Debt bondage – being forced to work to pay off debts that realistically they never will be able to
For more information on identifying and reporting modern slavery, visit the Government's Modern Slavery website (external link).
This can include, but is not exhaustive to:
- Unequal treatment based on age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex or sexual orientation (known as ‘protected characteristics’ under the Equality Act 2010)
- Verbal abuse, derogatory remarks or inappropriate use of language related to a protected characteristic
- Denying access to communication aids, not allowing access to an interpreter, signer or lip-reader
- Harassment or deliberate exclusion on the grounds of a protected characteristic
- Denying basic rights to healthcare, education, employment and criminal justice relating to a protected characteristic
- Substandard service provision relating to a protected characteristic.
Organisational Abuse is where poor working practices cause mistreatment by repeated poor or inadequate care, which violates a person's dignity and human rights. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Discouraging visits or the involvement of relatives or friends
- Run-down or overcrowded establishment
- Authoritarian management or rigid regimes
- Lack of leadership and supervision
- Insufficient staff or high turnover resulting in poor quality care
- Abusive and disrespectful attitudes towards people using the service
- Inappropriate use of restraints
- Lack of respect for dignity and privacy
- Failure to manage residents with abusive behaviour
- Not providing adequate food and drink, or assistance with eating
- Not offering choice or promoting independence
- Misuse of medication
- Failure to provide care with dentures, spectacles or hearing aids
- Not taking account of individuals’ cultural, religious or ethnic needs
- Failure to respond to abuse appropriately
- Interference with personal correspondence or communication
- Failure to respond to complaints.
Neglect is the ongoing failure to meet basic needs. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Failure to provide or allow access to food, shelter, clothing, heating, stimulation and activity, personal or medical care
- Providing care in a way that the person dislikes
- Failure to administer medication as prescribed
- Refusal of access to visitors
- Not taking account of individuals’ cultural, religious or ethnic needs
- Not taking account of educational, social and recreational needs
- Ignoring or isolating the person
- Preventing the person from making their own decisions
- Preventing access to personal belongings such as glasses, hearing aids, dentures etc
- Failure to ensure privacy and dignity.
Self-neglect is the lack of self-care; lack of care for one's environment; and/or the refusal of services, to an extent that it threatens personal health and safety. Examples include but not limited to:
- Poor personal hygiene – not washing, grooming, or changing clothes
- Malnutrition or dehydration – not eating or drinking enough
- Untreated medical conditions – refusing or avoiding medical care
- Unsafe living conditions – such as hoarding, infestations, or lack of heating
- Refusing essential services – like home care, cleaning, or health visits
- Inability to manage finances or personal affairs
- Living in squalor – extreme clutter, dirt, or disrepair in the home.
Exploitation can happen in many forms and often overlaps with other types of abuse, such as financial, sexual, or criminal exploitation. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Mate crime - pretending to be someone’s friend to exploit them (e.g. for money, housing, or access to benefits)
- Criminal exploitation - forcing or coercing someone to commit crimes (e.g. drug running in county lines)
- Sexual exploitation - manipulating someone into sexual activity for someone else’s gain
- Labour exploitation - making someone work for little or no pay under threat or pressure
- Financial exploitation - using someone’s money or property without permission or through manipulation
- Cuckooing - criminals take over the home of a vulnerable adult, often someone with care and support needs, to use it for illegal purposes like drug dealing, storing weapons, or hiding money. The person may be intimidated or threatened, forced to stay in one room, prevented from using parts of their home, Exploited financially, physically, or sexually.
If you have any concerns about these issues or know someone who is being exploited in this way please contact Greater Manchester Police on 999, if there is an immediate threat.