What Is Domestic Abuse?

Domestic Abuse.

Domestic abuse is the term used to describe the assault, intimidation and harassment of a person by another person with whom they have a close relationship.

The close relationship can be but is not necessarily a marriage - it can be between same sex partners, members of a family such as a child against a parent, and between a carer and the person they are meant to be looking after.

One thing abusers have in common is that they want to control the person they are abusing. Some use fear, some resort to violence. A few even kill.

It can be hard to accept that someone the person affected loves, and who they thought loved them too, could deliberately hurt them either physically or emotionally.

They may feel, or be told, that it is their fault - because they are useless, stupid or hopeless with money. The reasons the perpetrator gives will probably change from day to day, so the person affected can never get it right, no matter how hard they try.

Domestic abuse often involves Physical Abuse with hitting, slapping, punching, pushing, being thrown across the room or down the stairs, arm twisting, choking, burning, stabbing, shooting, being hit and attacked with weapons or household objects all included.

It can take other forms too, including:

Sexual Abuse:

Rape, sexual assault, enforced prostitution, being made to have sex with anyone else, withdrawal of sex or enforced sexual activities and being forced to watch or engage in pornographic acts are all examples.

Emotional and Psychological Abuse:

These forms of abuse can involve destroying things that are important to the person affected, being threatened with injury or death, being continually humiliated and degraded by words or actions or both, told their children (need link here to children page) will be taken away, and being prevented from going out, having friends or a job, being told what to wear and whether or not to wear make-up.

Financial Abuse:

This includes being deprived of money, the abuser having total control of all money, being made to account for every penny spent and being put into debt by the abuser.

Being treated in any of these ways - DOMESTIC ABUSE - is not right, it does not have to be tolerated and help to get away from it is available.

Domestic abuse - it can hit anyone