Domestic violence, also called battering, spouse abuse, family violence or intimate partner violence, is a pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors in which an individual establishes and maintains power and control over another with whom he/she has an intimate, romantic, marital or family relationship. Abusers often use threats, intimidation, isolation, violent acts and other behaviors to establish and maintain power and control, which is the crux of domestic violence.
The following are common types of abuse that may be used sparingly and at discernable points of a relationship, or repeatedly and consistently throughout a relationship.

• Physical Abuse
• Sexual Abuse
• Verbal Abuse
• Emotional/Psychological Abuse
• Economic Abuse
• Immigration Abuse
• Marital Rape

Domestic violence occurs in the relationship where abusers and survivors know each other, and could happen both in adult and adolescent intimate or familial relationships. The abuser and survivor may be married, divorced, separated, cohabitating, have a child together, dating or simply part of the family. They may be heterosexual or homosexual. The relationship may be long-term or may have just started. Domestic violence can occur in any type of intimate partner or familial relationship. Domestic violence is a crime.

There are five key elements to an abuser:

• Entitlement thinking
• Avoidance of feelings of helplessness, fear and powerlessness
• Denial about the impact his behavior has on himself and others
• Benefits from institutional and cultural forms of inequality
• Potentially aggravating factors: substance abuse, mental illness

• Men who have witnessed their parents' domestic violence are twice as likely to abuse their own wives compared to children of non violent parents
• Girls who have witnessed domestic violence are more likely to stay in an abusive relationship as an adult.
• More than 50% of batterers also abuse their children or their victim’s children.

• Nearly one in three adult women experience at least one physical assault by a partner during adulthood.  ( Bureau of Justice Statistical Report- Violence Against Women – 1995)
• 30% of Americans say they know a woman who has been physically abused by her husband or boyfriend in the past year. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Costs of Intimate Partner Violence – 2003)
• It is estimated that domestic violence costs more than $900 million a year due to lower productivity, staff turnover, and absenteeism and an additional $900 million in earnings lost by victims of intimate partner violence. Centers for Disease Control Costs of Intimate Partner Violence 2003)
• Of those victimized by an intimate partner, 85% are women and 15% are men.  (Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report: Intimate Partner Violence and Age of Victim, 1993-1999, (2001) ). 
• Abused women are twice as likely as non-abused women to have poor health and physical and mental problems, even if the violence occurred years before. (World Health Organization- WHO Multi County Study on Women’s Health 2005)

Use these guidelines to determine if you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence.

Has your partner ever:

• Punched you
• Slapped you
• Kicked you
• Bitten you
• Pulled your hair
• Sexually assaulted you
• Kidnapped you or held you hostage?

Does your partner ever:

• Publicly shame you
• Try to isolate you from others
• Try to dominate you
• Stalk or follow you
• Threaten to kill or harm you, or someone you love
• Intimidate you with weapons
• Take your money or deny you financial resources
• Threaten to take away your children
• Deny or minimize abuse
• Accuse you of being unfaithful
• Threaten suicide to try to force you to do something?

Each year, an estimated 3 to 10 million children witness assaults against a parent by an intimate partner. (Straus, M. (1992). Children as witnesses to marital violence: a risk factor. Columbus, OH: Ross Laboratories). The experience of family violence can be among the most disturbing for children because both victims and aggressors are the adults who care for them and who are most closely attached to them. For many of these children, violence interrupts their experience of consistent safety and care, and creates an environment of uncertainty and helplessness. Children who are exposed to domestic violence, especially repeated incidents of violence, are at risk for many difficulties, both immediately and in the future. These include problems with sleeping, eating and other basic bodily functions; depression, aggressiveness, anxiety and other problems in regulating emotions; difficulties with family and peer relationships; and problems with attention, concentration and school performance.

Interventions that help children are usually those that help parents to increase their own safety and to increase the resources available to provide safety for their children. Child abuse, youth violence and domestic violence are inextricably interwoven. The presence of domestic violence in a child’s life not only hurts the child, it has reaching effects on all of society. Community based interventions may be the best hope for families in our society struggling with violence in their homes. Early education on the subject can help prevent the cycle of domestic violence from continuing.

For more details about this information visit www.abanet.org.