What is Domestic Abuse & violence
What is Domestic Abuse & Violence?
In essence, domestic violence represents the violent manifestation of domestic abuse, characterized by controlling, coercive, or threatening behavior between individuals aged 16 or older who are or have been intimate partners. Family members who are caregivers can also act as perpetrators.
Importantly, anyone can become a victim of domestic abuse or violence, irrespective of gender, age, ethnicity, socio-economic status, sexuality, or background. Domestic violence and abuse do not discriminate based on the nature of relationships, be they heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or transgender. It’s crucial to note that the abuse or violence may persist even after the intimate relationship has ended.
This mistreatment, typically spanning an extended period rather than a one-off incident, can manifest in various forms
These behaviours through which a perpetrator exerts power or control over another person are regarded as coercive control:
- Sharing sexually explicit images of a partner, online such as ‘revenge porn’, or elsewhere;
- Restricting access to money, as the law prohibits breadwinners from stopping their partner from having money or giving them punitive allowances;
- Repeatedly putting down their partner, such as persistent name calling, mocking or belittling them;
- Making a partner obey the perpetrator’s rules, without, for instance, giving the partner a say in decisions;
- Controlling what a partner wears;
- Stopping or restricting a partner from seeing friends or family,perhaps by monitoring or blocking their calls or emails, telling them where they can or cannot go;
- Scaring a partner by, for example, making angry gestures, using physical size to intimidate, shouting the partner down, destroying their possessions, breaking things or punching walls;
- Threatening to reveal private things about a partner, such as details about their health or sexual orientation;
- Putting tracking devices on a partner’s phone, maybe to monitor their social media messages or check where they are;
- Being extremely jealous by constantly accusing a partner of cheating by simply looking at another person; and
- Forcing a partner to do things they don’t want to, which could be as serious as commit crimes, neglect or abuse their children.
Much of coercive control is also emotional abuse, which can also include a perpetrator:
- Blaming a partner for the abuse or arguments;
- Denying abuse is happening, or playing it down;
- Stopping them going to college or work; and
- Making unreasonable demands for their attention.
This covers the perpetrator doing one or more of:
- Destroying possessions which belong to their partner;
- Standing over them or invading their personal space;
- Reading their emails, texts or letters;
- Threatening to hurt or kill their partner; or
- Threatening to harm or kill themselves or the children?
This includes slapping, hitting, punching, pushing, shoving, biting, kicking, burning, choking, holding down and throwing things at their partner.
This is behaviour involving violence, threats of violence, intimidation, coercion or abuse (including psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional abuse) which can occur when perpetrators perceive that a relative has shamed the family and/or community by breaking their honour code, such as by perceived immoral behaviour.
Any of the above also applies when perpetrators of the abuse or violence are family members or carers. Family members are mother, father, son, daughter, brother, sister, grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins whether directly related, in-laws or step-family.
The final word goes to the Crown Prosecution Service: “Domestic violence is a crime. We all have a role to play in bringing domestic violence to an end.”