Domestic violence often refers to violence between spouses,or spousal abuse but can also include cohabitants and non-married intimate partners. Domestic violence occurs in all cultures; people of all races, ethnicities, religions, and classes can be perpetrators of domestic violence. Domestic violence is perpetrated by, and on, both men and women, occurring in both same-sex and opposite-sex relationships.
Domestic violence has many forms, including
- physical violence,
- sexual abuse,
- emotional abuse,
- intimidation,
- economic deprivation or
- threats of violence.
- physical,
- psychological,
- sexual and/or social;
- frequency - on/off,
- occasional,
- chronic;
and severity – in terms of both psychological or physical harm and the need for treatment – transitory or permanent injury – mild, moderate, severe up to homicide.
One type of domestic abuse involves hurtful physical acts that include pinching, slapping, beating, kicking, punching, pulling of the hair, and the actual use of weapons
Types of abusive relationships:There are types of abusive relationships that don’t involve forced sexual acts or beatings.
A few symptoms of these relationships are:1. Stopping all contact between you and your family or friends.
2. Controlling where you go, who you see, and what you do as well as placing time limits, checking up or interrogating you after trips to even such places as the grocery or school to pick up children.
3. Forces you to give up total control of your paycheck/credit cards etc.
4. Forces you to ask of any money or the refusal to give any even if you earned the income.
5. Threatens you with taking your children by claiming you are an unfit parent.
6. Makes all household decisions concerning everything from cleaning schedules to major purchases without any consultation.
7. Destroys your personal property, punch holes in walls, shatter furniture or glassware, and/or threatens to or actually kills your pets.
8. Blames his or her temper and abuse on you or acts like the violence isn’t any big deal to begin with.
Forms of abuse
Spousal abuse can take any of the following forms:.
- Physical violence
Physical violence is the intentional use of physical force with the potential for causing injury, harm, disability, or death, for example, beating, hitting, shoving, biting, restraint, kicking, or use of a weapon. - Sexual violence and incest
Sexual violence and incest are divided into three categories: - use of physical force to compel a person to engage in a sexual act against their will, whether or not the act is completed;
- attempted or completed sex act involving a person who is unable to understand the nature or condition of the act, unable to decline participation, or unable to communicate unwillingness to engage in the sexual act, e.g., because of underage immaturity, illness, disability, or the influence of alcohol or other drugs, because of intimidation or pressure, or because of seduction and submission (as in female forms of sexual aggression); and
- abusive sexual contact.
- Psychological abuse
Psychological/emotional abuse can include, humiliating the victim, controlling what the victim can and cannot do, withholding information from the victim, deliberately doing something to make the victim feel diminished or embarrassed, isolating the victim from friends and family, and denying the victim access to money or other basic resources. - Economic abuse
Economic abuse is when the abuser has complete control over the victim's money and other economic resources. Usually, this involves putting the victim on a strict 'allowance', withholding money at will and forcing the victim to beg for the money until the abuser gives them some money. It is common for the victim to receive less money as the abuse continues. This also includes (but is not limited to) preventing the victim from finishing education or obtaining employment.
