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Center For Abused Persons
Intimate Partner Violence
. https://www.centerforabusedpersonscharlescounty.org/

Intimate Partner Violence

Violence in a relationship takes many forms. The frequency can vary from a single incident to repeated or consistent abuse and participation can range from mutual involvement to one partner always hurting the other.

Intimate partner violence (IPV, also known as domestic violence or DV) refers to one type of relationship violence and features one partner who perpetrates a pattern of harmful behaviors in order to exert power over and/or control the other partner. Harmful behaviors may include physical, emotional, sexual, or economic abuse. Ultimately, the repeated use of these behaviors creates a dynamic in which the abuser elicits fear or intimidation from the abused person.

Types of Abuse

What is physical abuse? Physical abuse includes any type of unwanted behavior that prevents movement, denies physical needs, or harms a person's body. Examples include blocking doors/exits, holding or restraining, grabbing, denying physical needs, forcing drug/alcohol use, threatening to use/using weapons, pushing, scratching, slapping, hitting, disrupting sleep, punching, kicking, strangulation/”choking”, burning and throwing objects.

What is emotional abuse? Emotional abuse includes any behavior that degrades a person's actions, character, or esteem and results in shame, intimidation, or coercion. Examples include silent treatment/stonewalling, interrogation and extreme jealousy, swearing/screaming, denying/minimizing impact of abuse spitting, destroying property, monitoring, forced participation in demeaning behaviors (begging, kneeling, etc.), name calling or insulting the victim, their family, or their beliefs/ideas, ignoring/disparaging feelings, gaslighting/brainwashing, using children, blaming, rejecting, threatening to injure/injuring pets, blackmailing and/or exploiting disabilities and threatening legal action.

What is sexual abuse? Sexual abuse includes any type of unwanted behavior that requires visual, verbal, and/or physical participation in conduct related to sex, sexuality, and/or sexual health. Examples include embarrassing comments or jokes, insulting sexual history/preferences, pressuring or using guilt to attain sex, engaging in infidelity after promised monogamy, distributing or online posting of sexual content featuring partner (“revenge porn”), forcing or denying contraceptive use or abortion/sterilization, insisting that partner have sex with other people (with or without compensation), any sexual contact without consent (due to unwillingness or inability to consent), criticizing sexual performance, withholding sex as punishment, using demeaning names and forced exposure to pornography.

What is economic abuse? Economic abuse includes any behavior that harms a person's financial stability. Examples include denying access to financial accounts, controlling financial decision making, refusing to pay bills, excessive spending of shared funds, monitoring spending (i.e. tracking purchases, issuing strict allowance), refusing to work/contribute to household, barring victim from working, interfering with victim's work/place of employment and excluding victim's name from deeds/titles.

What are other common forms of abuse?

  • Social isolation
  • Stalking
  • Harassment
  • Using gender stereotypes/myths
  • Degrading family, culture, or religion
  • Justifying abuse with culture or religion
  • Forcing participation in behaviors contrary to religious beliefs
  • Public humiliation
  • Distributing private materials (e.g. Journal entries)
  • Taking car keys, cell phone, money, etc.
  • Sabotaging vehicle
  • Denying access to work, education, or health care
  • Destroying property

Next month's article will focus on Safety Planning for those experiencing IPV. Also, visit our website https //www.centerforabusedpersonscharlescounty.org for more information.

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