Treat Harshly is a term that describes the act of oppressing, abusing, and riding roughshod over someone or something. Oppressing is the act of subjecting someone to unjust or cruel forms of control, while ABUSE is the act of treating someone with cruelty or violence. Riding roughshod is an idiom that means to treat someone or something with contempt or disregard. All three of these terms describe a situation in which someone is treated harshly and without mercy.