Some forms of forms of physical harm and verbal abuse may also constitute criminal offences or hate crimes.
Verbal abuse: is the use of threatening, abusive or insulting language with the intention of causing someone else alarm or distress or harass them. Verbal assault is a criminal offence.
Physical harm: is any act by which a person intentionally or recklessly causes another to suffer or apprehend immediate unlawful violence (the belief or fear that someone is about to use illegal physical force against you right away). This is closely associated with the term assault which is often used to include a battery, which is committed by the intentional or reckless application of unlawful force to another person.
For more information about physical or verbal abuse, please visit Victim Support.