What is domestic abuse?
Domestic abuse is not your fault.
Domestic abuse is a pattern of behaviour from a partner or a family member that is designed to humiliate, degrade or make the other person afraid.
It’s dependent on a power dynamic. Domestic abuse doesn’t only refer to physical or sexual violence – it can be emotional, economic, digital and involve multiple aspects of the person’s life.
Domestic abuse is not your fault, and you can get help at any point.
SIGNS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE
-
Controlling your finances or how money is spent in the household
-
Telling you what you can and can't do
-
Isolating you from your friends and family
-
Controlling your appearance
-
Show jealousy and possessiveness
-
Becoming aggressive, shouting, degrading, criticising and threating towards you
-
Becoming highly emotional after outbursts, denying they are abusive, crying for forgiveness
-
Physical violence
-
Sexual violence
Staying safe at home
Understanding the myth vs facts of domestic abuse
Despite there being more conversation about domestic abuse, there are still plenty of misunderstandings between what is myth and what is fact about domestic abuse.
Is My Child Affected by Domestic Abuse?
TYPES OF DOMESTIC ABUSE
Physical abuse means hurting or injuring someone deliberately to exert control.
Emotional abuse towards a partner or someone personally connected to you is extremely damaging.
Coercive control is defined as a series of acts designed to take control of another person who is personally connected to you such as a partner, family member, ex-partner, someone you live with.
Digital abuse is a form of domestic abuse in which an abuser uses technology to monitor, stalk, harass, threaten, control or impersonate another person.
Economic abuse is highly common in domestic abuse cases. In fact, 95% of domestic abuse cases involve economic abuse.
So-called honour-based abuse is usually perpetrated by the victims' families, extended families and members of their community, hoping to uphold the “honour” of the family.
Although abuse can happen at any age, older adults can be particularly vulnerable as they may have a disability, mental health condition or illness that abusers can exploit.
Stalking is a pattern of unwanted behaviour that causes the person being stalked to feel distressed and fearful.
