Domestic Violence is...

hitting

***slapping

*****pushing

*******shoving

**********yelling

*************name-calling

****************humiliating

*******************threatening

**********************isolation

**************************forced sex

*****************************harassing

********************************controlling

***********************************demeaning

**************************************terrorizing
IT IS ALSO A CHOICE.

What is Domestic Violence?

*Domestic violence is a pattern of behaviors that one intimate partner exerts over another as a means of control. Some of these behaviors include physical, sexual, and psychological attacks, as well as verbal abuse and economic deprivation.

*Domestic violence is NOT limited to married couples but includes cohabitants, lovers, former partners, parents, and children.

*Domestic violence is not limited to heterosexuals but is also found in same sex relationships.

*Domestic violence is a pattern of purposeful behavior, directed at achieving compliance from, or control over, another person.

*Domestic violence is not exclusive to any class, race, religion, or educational level.

*Domestic violence is supported and held in place by social beliefs, attitudes, assumptions, and institutions.

*Domestic violence is a LEARNED behavior.

*Domestic violence may be influenced by drugs, alcohol, stress, psychopathology, and situational factors, but these factors are not the cause of abuse. Domestic violence is a CHOICE made by the abuser.

*Domestic violence is not a relationship problem. IT IS A CRIME!

*Current statistics indicate that in half of all relationships, at least one episode of violence occurs, and that for many, it continues in a regular cycle. The victims of domestic violence, most often women, generally view the societal obstacles as insurmountable and their alternatives as few.