Expertise // Domestic Violence
Domestic violence (also called intimate partner violence, domestic abuse, dating violence, spousal abuse, and intimate partner abuse) is any form of abuse that takes place in a heterosexual or homosexual romantic relationship between adults or adolescents.
Intimate partner abuse is a major public ill, due to its affecting more than 2 million women and 800,000 men and resulting in homelessness, injury, or death of victims, a huge amount of money in health care costs, and lost work productivity.
Domestic violence (also called intimate partner violence, domestic abuse, dating violence, spousal abuse, and intimate partner abuse) is any form of abuse that takes place in a heterosexual or homosexual romantic relationship between adults or adolescents.
Intimate partner abuse is a major public ill, due to its affecting more than 2 million women and 800,000 men and resulting in homelessness, injury, or death of victims, a huge amount of money in health care costs, and lost work productivity.
Intimate partner abuse has been and, in some ways, continues to be endorsed in all societies through legal sanctioning of the subjugation of women and lack of legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) victims.
While domestic abuse strikes couples of all races, religions, social-economic status, and sexual orientations, risk factors for men or women becoming victims or abusers include poverty, absence of education, witnessing family violence as a child, having a low sense of self-worth, and attitudes of male domination and substance abuse, especially alcohol abuse.
Warning signs for individuals to consider if they suspect they are the victim of intimate partner violence include feeling demeaned, assaulted, or excessively controlled by their partner. Warning signs friends, family members, and co-workers can look for if they wonder whether the person they care about is the victim of domestic abuse include frequent absences from school or work, numerous injuries the victim tries to explain, low self-esteem, a change in their personality, fear of conflicts, passive-aggressive behaviour, blaming him- or herself for the problems in their relationship, isolation from others, or stress-related physical symptoms.
Domestic abuse is treated by establishing and maintaining the safety of the victim, providing appropriate legal consequences to the abuser, addressing the emotional impact on the victim and the problems of the abuser, particularly if one of the problems includes alcohol or other substance abuse.
Prevention of domestic violence involves providing economic opportunity, mentors, role models, organized community programs for youth and families, a school environment that promotes prevention of abusiveness in any relationship, and adult family members who are nurturing and who provide consistent, structured support.
Domestic violence and abuse can happen to anyone regardless of age, gender, race, religion or sexuality, yet the problem is often
overlooked, excused, or denied. This is especially true when the abuse is verbal, psychological and/ or financial, rather than physical/sexual. Noticing and recognising the signs of an abusive relationship is the first step to ending it. No one should live in fear of the person they love. If you recognize yourself or someone you know in the following warning signs and descriptions of abuse, reach out. There is help available.
A special form of emotional abuse is called “crazy-making”; examples of this technique are:
Forbidding the partner to work.
Jeopardizing the partner’s employment by such tactics as excessive calls to work; creating conflict with co-workers, supervisor or clients; creating scenes with co-workers; forcing the partner to miss work through threats, injuries or coerced substance use.
Refusing to work, yet contributing to expenses.
Controlling shared resources, including bank accounts and common property.
Demanding the partner sign over paychecks or denying access to liquid assets, like mutual funds.
Demanding the partner account for all the money he/she spends.
Coercing the partner to pay for all expenses, including rent, food, and utilities.
Stealing the partner’s property, such as valuables or assets.
Destroying or threatening to destroy the partner’s property as a means of affecting his financial situation.
Using the partner’s identity to charge expenditures to partner.
Taking credit cards, money or checkbook
Forging the partner’s signature on financial documents.
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