[Defining abuse: a difficult and controversial task]

Defining abuse: a difficult and controversial task. To offer a comprehensive definition of abuse is difficult, for the understanding of this phenomenon varies considerably from one author to the next. However, certain common characteristics are proposed in this paper: the victim's vulnerability, a specific, trustful, relationship to the perpetrator, and the fact that a power relationship is at stake. Abuse can be also clarified by using two lines of distinction, between conscious and unconscious behaviors, and between individual and collective practices. Those distinctions however, which help clarify the pertinent answers in each type of situation, do not always make the resolution any easier. For all the situations, what's more, four necessary steps are to be followed, which can be summarized by the following terms: recognizing, reporting, responding and questioning.