Domestic violence is a pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors that adults or adolescents use against their current or former intimate partners.
Domestic violence is a learned behavior and can therefore be unlearned and replaced with postive, acceptable behavior.
There are four types of domestic violence:
Physical abuse: indications are: scratching, biting, shaking, shoving, pushing, restraining or throwing victim, isolating victim, reckless driving, locks victim in or out of the house, refuses to help when victim is sick, injured or pregnant, withholds food as punishment, abuses victim at mealtime which disrupts eating patterns, abuses victim at night which disrupts sleeping patterns, and attacks victim with weapons or kills victim.
Rape and sexual abuse: indications are: jealously, anger, withholds sex and affection as punishment, calls victim sexual names, insists victim dress in a more sexual manner, forces victim to have sex by manipulating or with threats, physically forces sex or is violent during a sexual assault, forces victim to have sex with multiple partners and denies protection during sex.
Psychological abuse: Breaks promises, doesn’t follow through on agreements, verbally attacks and humilities partner in private or public, plays mind games, forces victim to do degrading things, ignores victim’s feelings, regularly threatens to leave or tells partner to leave, always claims to be right and is unfaithful to their relationship.
Economic abuse: Controls all the money, doesn’t let victim work outside home or sabotages victim’s attempts to work or go to school, refuses to work and makes victim support the family, and ruins victim’s credit rating.
