What is domestic violence/abuse?
Domestic abuse is any incident or pattern of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between intimate partners or family members aged 16 or over, regardless of gender or sexuality.
The most common forms of domestic violence are.
- Physical: hitting, punching, strangulation and threatening to harm
- Emotional: name calling, putting you down, undermining your confidence
- Financial: controlling your finances, coercing you into debt, affecting your ability to work
- Sexual: making you do things of a sexual nature which you are uncomfortable with, withholding sex as a ‘punishment’
- Psychological: playing mind games with you, also known as ‘gaslighting’, making you think you are going mad
- Coercive control: is a range of acts designed to make the victims of abuse subordinate and/or dependent on the perpetrator.
- Stalking and harassment: following you, checking up on you where this is from a partner, ex-partner or family member.
Domestic violence presents itself in many different forms that may be unique to many but still a reality for some, these forms of domestic violence are.
- Cultural/spiritual abuse: the use of religion, spiritual practice or a victim’s culture to normalise abusive behaviour This form of abuse is often categorised as psychological and emotional.
- Honour-based violence: abusive behaviour that is committed to protect or defend the 'honour' of a family or community. This includes Forced Marriage and post-separation abuse:
- Intimate image abuse/ revenge porn: the distribution or threat to share intimate or sexual photographs or films of a survivor, without their consent.