Domestic violence is a pervasive problem that transcends both cultural and socio-economic boundaries. Both men and women can be victims.
While the phrase “domestic violence” tends to evoke images of physical abuse, domestic violence actually occurs in a multitude of ways.
What are the types of domestic violence?
Knowing more about what constitutes abuse can make it easier to recognize when it happens to you or someone you love. Domestic violence can include:
- Physical assaults: This is the most visible form of domestic violence, and it can include a wide range of behaviors, such as shoving, slapping, punching, kicking or even choking. It can also involve threats of physical violence, with or without a weapon.
- Emotional abuse: Emotional abuse, including acts designed to humiliate someone, can be considered abuse. So can constant criticism, attempts to isolate someone from their friends and family, and other forms of verbal abuse.
- Psychological violence: Abusers sometimes purposefully create fear and anxiety in their victims. They use diverse methods, from threatening self-harm to threatening harm to the victim’s pets. Or, they may destroy a victim’s treasured belongings just to “punish” them for some transgression.
- Financial abuse: This occurs when one partner exerts control over all the financial resources within the relationship and limits their spouse’s access to money so that they are financially dependent. This is often used to keep the victim under control.
- Sexual abuse: It doesn’t matter what someone’s relationship is, nor how many times a couple has been intimate in the past. Sexual violence and abuse include any non-consensual intimate activity or coercion. Sexual abuse can involve everything from touching to marital rape.
- Digital abuse: Technology is everywhere and deeply interwoven into most people’s lives. Abusers sometimes leverage technology to control, monitor or harass their partners. Victims can be cyberstalked, subject to “revenge porn” or find their every activity monitored from afar.
The consequences of domestic violence can last for a long time, and it can be an uphill climb to feel whole again. It all starts with reclaiming one’s identity and power.
How can you file a domestic violence lawsuit?
If you want to file a lawsuit against someone as a victim of domestic violence, the wisest move you can make is to seek tailored legal guidance, as every case is unique and must be approached thoughtfully and strategically in order to keep victims safe.