What is Domestic Violence?

Domestic Violence (sometimes referred to as domestic abuse) occurs when a family member, partner or ex-partner attempts to physically or psychologically dominate another.

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.

There are a number of dimensions including mode -

• 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.

Basic Rights Each Women needs to know

1. Right to Education & Work :Your parents or spouse cannot stop you or your daughter from studying further. The Indian constitution recognises the right to primary education for both the boy and girl child.
   Similarly, you also have the right to earn a livelihood and seek equal wages for equal work.
   So if your spouse, parents or in-laws stop you from pursuing a job for no obvious reasons, then it is violation of your personal right. It can amount to mental and economic abuse and is therefore chargeable as a criminal case.



2. Say No to economic Abuse:If you are dependent on your parent, guardian or spouse for money and if any of them refuse to help you monetarily, especially in the case of natural emergencies like treatment, then it amounts to economic abuse.
   It is a punishable offence under the Domestic Violence Act of 2005.
   Infact, your husband cannot dispose off your jewellery or dowry assets without your consent. If he does, he is guilty of economic abuse.



3. Domestic Violence :Are you under the impression that domestic violence refers to wives alone?
   According to the Domestic Violence Act of 2005, any act of violence or abuse against a single woman, sisters, widows, mothers, daughters and even woman in live-in relationship amounts to domestic violence.



4. Beware of Eve teasers:Any indecent act including lewd comments, touching groping, or indecent exposure that degrades the dignity of a woman comes under sexual and mental harassment. The offender is punishable by a maximum jail term of two years.



5. Right to medical termination of pregnancy:The right to your body lies with you and no one else. Any forced act upon your body without your consent is a violation of basic human rights.
   This is a serious problem in India, where the right to reproduction is handled by the spouses and the in-laws rather than the woman.
   If you are married, the decision of having a baby is solely yours, since you are the one who will undergo labour. No one can force or decide that for you.
   Similarly, you also have the legal power to abort the foetus. But isn't abortion illegal?
   There is a difference between abortion and foeticide. Removing the foetus due to complications or other medical problems or as an unwanted pregnancy is known as abortion.
   However, if you were to terminate the pregnancy after determining the gender of the baby, that would amount to foeticide and is illegal and criminal.
   Foeticide is punishable by lifetime imprisonment under section 313 of Indian Penal Code (IPC).
   



6. Taunt and Land in Jail:Insulting or ridiculing you constantly for your inability to conceive a male child is punishable under the Domestic Violence Act of 2005. It amounts to verbal and emotional abuse.
   So the next time your in-laws or relatives decide to taunt you, remember you need not take it.



7. Pregnant and Fired:When you are on a maternity leave, your employer cannot discharge or dismiss you from work. It is also an offence if your employer were to change the terms and conditions of your job in your absence.
   You may be terminated if you were involved in any misconduct such as disclosing confidential company information or stealing documents.
   However, if you are fired while on leave for unjust reasons such as being leave during pregnancy or asking for flexible work timings, then you can take legal action against your employer.
   In any such event, file a case in the Industrial and Labour court. The court will then issue a notice to the employer.
   



8. Dealing with the Law:Firstly, you cannot be summoned to a police station before sunrise or after sunset. Secondly, if you were to be questioned on any matter in the police station, a woman officer be present in the room And if needed only a woman officer can arrest you.
   Also, a police officer must clearly follow certain rules when you file a report. He or she cannot deviate from the routine by refusing to file it or counsel you. In such a scenario, the police officer can be held accountable under the law.



9. Travel Rights:The government has reservations for women in the transport modes like buses and trains. Make use of it.



10. Consumer Rights:As a consumer of various products and services, you have the right to be informed about everything.

Concept behind Intuition

What is Intuition?

The standard definition is "knowledge gained of something without the use of reasoning or the five basic senses". Throughout time, many of the great achievers have spoken of successful decisions they made based on hunches, insights, visions, and gut feelings

Are You Intuitive?
We have all had experiences involving intuition. A common occurrence is to think of someone we have not seen or heard from in a while and then shortly afterwards, out of nowhere, this person shows up in our lives. Many of us have dreams while sleeping and then shortly afterwards find ourselves in the same specific situation in our waking reality.
Another common experience happens when we are walking, for example at a shopping mall, and we feel a pull to look in a certain direction out of our field of vision. Then it happens - we turn and lock eyes with someone who was admiring us from a distance. Of course, they often look away quickly when they realize they are intuitively caught. It's hard to play a situation like that off on biological factors (scents, sounds, etc.), especially when the other person is a hundred feet away.

What Are The Benefits Of Intuition?

As we begin to rely on this unified aspect and become more receptive to information received intuitively, we advance mentally, emotionally, and spiritually at a much faster rate compared to an individual who limits himself/herself to just information obtained from the five senses. This applies to every aspect of our lives (relationships, family, finances, awareness, happiness, etc).
There is a bank of greater intelligence that is accessible to everyone. This intelligence exceeds far beyond our limited personal reasoning. An example of the benefits of utilizing this greater intelligence could be a situation that occurs commonly in intimate relationships. Say for example, that an individual becomes jealous of their partner and they cannot figure out why or what to do to make the jealousy go away.
By being receptive to intuition, to this greater intelligence, they not only have a greater probability of seeing the reason that they are jealous, but also a greater chance at coming up with a solution to the issue. Most of us could probably appreciate that
That is much more efficient than repeating the same pattern of being jealous until it finally tears the relationship apart and then finding ourselves once again in a new relationship in a similar situation.

Communication With Others
Greater communication with yourself as well as greater communication with others can occur as you become more open to intuitive insights. The potentials are very appealing. Imagine being able to look at someone and know instantly where they stand:
How they really feel, not just how they appear to feel
What the reason behind their emotion is
What they have been through in life
What their challenges are
What their talents are
What they are attempting to communicate with you
Imagine specifically knowing when you need to telephone someone that you care about that needs support. Imagine knowing the most appropriate thing to say to someone that you are talking to – even someone you just met for the first time. You can start to see the intensity of the intimacy that is reachable with others and how meaningful heightened intuition can be in your life.

If things generally seem to work out smoothly in your life, you probably already function intuitively well (although you might not recognize the intuitive experiences when they occur). If this is the case, you might not need to put that much attention on this aspect of life we call intuition. We should point out at the same time that “functioning well” is a relative term. If you compare yourself to one of the great achievers of our times, you might see how you could be more creative, successful, and aware.
On the other hand, if you just keep making decisions that seem to create undesirable effects, you might want to consider trying something different. There may be a way of functioning in which much of the suffering you are going through can be bypassed.

Some Elements Involved With Intuition
We all have random experiences of intuition, but to actually induce this type of experience, to call forth this higher level of intelligence at will, it may take a little more practice for a lot of us. Based on research from field-studies conducted by Princeton University and other credible sources, in order to access intuition, many of us will have to develop

The skill of being quiet mentally and emotionally so that there is actually room to listen
A less limiting model of reality which actually allows the ability of the mind to perceptually skip across time and space
An openness to the outcome (play with intuition like a game)
Concentration
Open-mindedness about life (when we are biased, we tend to block intuition)
The ability to overcome our fears, doubts, our limited perceptions from past conditionings
The boldness to take small risks, more and more
Receptivity to receiving intuitive information
The ability to focus our attention intensely
The ability to pay attention (perceiving from an advanced level of awareness)

In your pursuit for the experience of intuition, you discover ways to open yourself up to this unlimited insight. One of the most effective paths is to just have fun with it, play with it. You will be much more successful if you play with intuition instead of working hard at it. Many of the great thinkers throughout time would agree that every aspect of life is more enjoyable if you are operating from the “playground of your mind.”

Developing Heightened Perception
Paying attention is one of the simplest ways for you to start to become more open to receiving intuitive insights. When we say paying attention, we mean stepping back and seeing everything from a distance. When you are a fish, it’s tricky to get a greater understanding of what the water is unless you jump out of the water occasionally. If you think about it, a fish that jumps every now and then, has to perceive the underwater life a little different from the rest of those guys.

Anyway, you can apply paying attention in many ways. When you have a thought, instead of just thinking it and then reacting to it, step back and watch it go by, like a line of words on a blank movie screen or maybe a bubble floating by. This allows you to begin to perceive at a higher level instead of just “being thought”.
Like an artist that is painting a huge painting - when the artist is up close to the painting, it is difficult for the artist to see anything except what is right in front of his/her face. When the artist steps back ten feet, it then becomes possible for him/her to perceive the painting for what it is, to see the whole product.
Another excellent time to play this game of “paying attention” is when you have an emotion. Step outside of it and take a look at it. Observe where the sensation is within your body. What shape is it? If you had to give to a temperature, would it be hot or cold? Is it dense or spread out? Where does it exist in relation to the rest of your body or the room you are sitting in?
You have to play with these games of paying attention in the same way that a little toddler plays with a new toy. The toddler doesn't think a whole lot about it - he hasn't even learned how to think yet. He is more joyful, creative, and open to discovering the toy for what it is. There is actually no “him” that is playing with the toy. “He” (the conditioned, programmed intellect) does not even exist yet. It is more like "the experience of the toy” for the toddler. The toddler probably has little memory of the toy, just an encounter of the toy in the “present” moment.

It is in this space beyond your thoughts (or better yet, in between them), the space beyond your emotions, beyond the boundaries of your body, that a greater awareness of who you are lies. It is also in this space that the gifts of intuition exist. You may receive a passing thought out of nowhere, an emotional sensation, or image of something. This is how the intuitive process begins.

Balanced Self-Confidence

Self-confidence is about balance. At one extreme, we have people with low self-confidence. At the other end, we have people who may be over-confident.

Good self-confidence is a matter of having the right amount of confidence, founded in reality and on your true ability. With the right amount of self-confidence, you will take informed risks, stretch yourself (but not beyond your abilities) and try hard.

By contrast, if you are under-confident, you’ll avoid taking risks and stretching yourself; and you might not try at all. This means that you’ll fail to reach your potential. And if you’re over-confident, you’ll probably take too much risk, stretch yourself beyond your capabilities, and crash badly. You may also find that you’re so optimistic, that you don’t try hard enough to truly succeed.

So, self-confidence needs to be founded on reality: realistic expectations, your skills and experience, and the effort and preparation that you are willing to put in to reach your goal.

The Law of Belief

Perhaps the most powerful single factor in your financial success is your beliefs about yourself and money. We call this the Law of Belief. It says simply this: Whatever you believe, with feeling, becomes your reality. What Successful People Believe Whatever you intensely believe becomes your reality. That we have a tendency to block out any information coming in to us that is inconsistent with our reality. What we've discovered is that successful people absolutely believe that they have the ability to succeed. And they will not entertain, think about, or talk about the possibilities that they'll fail. They do not even consider the possibility of failure.
Positive Thinking Versus Positive Knowing You always act in a matter consistent with your beliefs. The most important belief system you can build is a prosperity consciousness where you absolutely believe that you are going achieve your financial goals. We call this positive knowing versus positive thinking. Positive thinking can sometimes be wishing or hoping. But positive knowing is when you absolutely know that no matter what, you will be successful. The Foundation of Willpower Another principle related to your beliefs is willpower. We know that willpower is essential to any success. Willpower is based on confidence. It's based on conviction. It's based on faith. It's based on your belief in your ability to triumph over all obstacles. And you can develop willpower by persistence, by working on your goals, by reading the biographies of successful people, by listening to audio programs, by reading books about people who've achieved success. The more information you take into your mind consistent with success, the more likely it is that you will develop the willpower to push you through the obstacles and difficulties you will experience. Beat the Odds on Success
Remember that success is rare. Only one person in one hundred becomes wealthy in the course of a lifetime. Only five percent achieve financial independence. That means that the odds against you are 19-to-1. The only way that you're going to achieve your financial goals is if you get really serious. To succeed, you must get serious. You must get busy. You must get active. You must get going. Remember, everything counts. Resolve to Achieve Greatly Self-mastery, self-control, self-discipline are essential for anyone who wants to achieve greatly. And control over your thoughts is the hardest exercise in self-mastery that you will ever engage in. See if you can talk and think about only what you desire and not talk or think about anything that you don't want for 24 hours. Then you'll see what you're really made of. It's a hard thing to do but with practice, you can reach the point where you are thinking about your goals and desires most of the time. Then, your whole life will change for the better. Action Exercises Here are two things you can do to build a belief system consistent with the financial success you desire: First, continually repeat to yourself the words, pictures and thoughts consistent with your dreams and goals. Whatever you repeat often enough, over and over, becomes a new belief. Second, set a goal for yourself to think and talk only about the things that you want for the next 24 hours. This will be one of the hardest things you ever do. But if you can keep your mind on what you want and off of what you don't want for 24 hours, you can begin to change your entire future.

Goal of life

Bliss
Bliss is a superlative state which is far above and beyond happiness. The happiness that we commonly refer to is in some way or the other related to the external world. But Bliss on the other hand is an experience pertaining to the soul and is not related to external stimulii.
In life we find that whatever makes us happy has the potential to make us unhappy. To understand this further, we have to study the mediums through which we experience happiness.
They are:
The five senses: These are pleasures gained through the experience of touch, taste, sound, smell or sight.

The mind: It is that part of one's thoughts that are linked with one's emotions (our emotions and thoughts are interwoven with each other – unhappy thoughts lead to unhappy feelings and vice-versa). Pleasure gained through the mind is far superior to that gained through the five senses.

The intellect: This is our decision making and reasoning ability. It allows us to experience a different kind of pleasure that is qualitatively and quantitatively superior to the happiness gained through the mind.

Steps to be cheerful

1. Be comfortable in your own skin. Take a really good look at yourself and make note of the good side of yourself.
2. Help someone who is in need.
3. Learn how to have good manners and be polite.
4. Look on the bright side, but be honest.
5. Listen to both sides of things and listen carefully.
6. Keep an open mind.
7. Be encouraging and don't put people down.
8. Never judge too harshly. You never know if you'll be in that position someday and need a friend. Be a friend.
9. Cheerfulness is often mistaken for being fake. Don't talk in little high voices and pretend to be perfect. You'll just end up annoying everybody.
10. Be careful; with the opposite sex, sometimes kindness can be misconstrued as a come on. Make sure your intentions are clear, if unwanted.
11. Don't consume too much alcohol too often. You may later regret something you may have done or said to someone. Keep a clear mind.