What You Should Know About Domestic Violence


by Rachel Acloque - Date: 2007-01-25 - Word Count: 498 Share This!

Domestic violence, sometimes called battering, relationship abuse, or intimate partner violence, is a pattern of behavior used to establish power and control over another person through fear and intimidation, often including the threat or use of violence. Domestic violence is a crime that can include physical abuse, emotional abuse, economic abuse, and sexual abuse. Batterers use threats, intimidation, isolation, and other behaviors to maintain power over their victims. Domestic violence impacts everyone, regardless of income, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religion.

Many individuals are interested in ways that they can predict whether they are about to become involved with someone that will be physically abusive. Usually battering occurs between a man and a woman, same sex couples can also be involved in an abusive relationship. One who has loved and lived with an abusive man/woman comes to realize that no matter how much love and commitment he/she gives to the relationship, his/her way of loving is destroying him/her both physically and emotionally.

There are many signs in which to identify if your partner is likely to become abusive. Below is a few of the signs:

• At the beginning of a relationship, an abuser will always say that jealousy is a sign of love. As the jealousy progresses, he/she may call her frequently during the day or drop by unexpectedly. The reality is jealousy has nothing to do with love; it is a sign of possessiveness and lack of trust.

• The abusive person tries to cut the person off from all their support system; family, friends. They might even keep their partners from going to work or school from fear that they may make new friends.

• The abuser will constantly put their partner down in terms of lowering their self-esteem. Constant cursing and put-downs in the relationship.

• The abuser will show little concern about whether their partner wants to have sex or use anger to manipulate them into compliance.

• An abuser may hold down their partner during an argument and physically restraining them from leaving the room.

Remember you do not have control over your partner's behavior, but you do have a choice about how to respond. It is very difficult to decide to leave a relationship and seek safety. And once you decide that leaving is in your best interest, you still need to cope with the emotional, physical, and financial issues that arise.

Part of planning your safety is understanding your situation. It is important that you know that the pattern of abuse often begins with behaviors like name-calling and threats and can escalate to physical violence and sexual assault, or even murder. If you are afraid of your partner, you need to trust your instincts about your safety. Domestic abuse will stop when the entire community recognizes domestic violence as a human rights and a social justice issue.

There are many resources available for individuals who are in a domestic violence situation; for hreferrals to an office near your area, you can contact:

New York City Domestic Violence 24-hour Hotline 1-800-621-HOPE 1-800-621-4673


Related Tags: family, relationship, relationship abuse, domestic violence, intimate partner violence, family affair

Haitianite.com Magazine - Working Together To Uplift A Nation. For other articles related to domestic violence and relationship abuse, please visit Haitianite.com

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