What is Domestic Violence
Domestic violence is a pattern of intimidation, assault, battery, sexual assault or other abusive behavior perpetrated by one person using power and control against another. Domestic violence can happen to anyone regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender. Domestic violence affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels. Domestic violence occurs in both opposite-sex and same-sex relationships and can happen to intimate partners who are married, living together, or dating.
Types of abuse are as follows:
- Physical Abuse is hitting, slapping, shoving, grabbing, biting, hair-pulling, etc… Physical abuse also includes denying a partner medical care or forcing alcohol and/or drug use.
- Emotional and Verbal Ause is consistently undermining an individual's sense of self-worth and/or self-esteem. Emotional and verbal abuse may include, but is not limited to constant criticism, diminishing one's abilities, name-calling, or damaging one's relationship with his or her children. This type of abuse also involves fear by intimidation; threatening physical harm to self, partner, children, partner's family, friends, and pets; destruction of property; and forcing isolation from family, friends, or school and/or work. Emotional abuse also includes threats to “out” lesbian and gay victims or deport victims that are illegal immigrants to control another person.
- Financial Abuse includes but is not limited to an individual maintaining total control over financial resources, forcing the victim to make purchases and incur debt in his/her name, limiting/withholding victim access to money, not disclosing financial information, or forbidding/forcing a partner to work.
- Sexual Abuse is coercing or attempting to coerce any sexual contact or behavior without consent of the other person. Sexual abuse includes marital rape, attacks on sexual parts of the body, making someone perform a sexual act or sex with another person against his/her will, forcing sex after physical violence has occurred, or treating one in a sexually demeaning manner.