"Domestic violence is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation."
Services provided to victims of domestic violence to promote safety, healing, and rebuilding of their lives.
What is Domestic Violence: This topic explores the meaning of domestic violence, the different types of abuse, and how it affects individuals, families, and communities.
The Causes of Domestic Violence: This topic dives into the various factors that promote domestic violence, including cultural, social, economic, and individual factors.
The Impact of Domestic Violence on Children: This topic explores the detrimental effects of domestic violence on children, including mental, emotional, and physical harm.
Domestic Violence in Indigenous Communities: This topic explores the unique and particular issues surrounding domestic violence in Indigenous communities.
Understanding Power and Control: This topic explores the dynamics of power and control in domestic violence, how it shows up in relationships, and ways it can be recognized and addressed.
Responding to Domestic Violence: This topic outlines the different ways people and organizations can respond to domestic violence, including early intervention, prevention, and support.
Legal Responses: This topic explores the law and legal system responses to domestic violence, including the Violence Against Women's Act, domestic violence restraining orders, and criminal charges.
Supporting Survivors of Domestic Violence: This topic explores the different ways individuals and organizations can support survivors of domestic violence, including counseling, advocacy, and resources.
The Connection between Domestic Violence and Substance Abuse: This topic looks at the correlation between domestic violence and substance abuse and the ways intervention and treatment can help break this cycle.
Engaging Men and Boys in Prevention: This topic looks at how men and boys can be engaged in prevention, education, and advocacy to end domestic violence.
Physical Abuse: Any non-accidental act that results in bodily harm, pain or injury, including hitting, slapping, biting, grabbing or choking.
Emotional Abuse: Behaviors aimed at controlling, isolating or intimidating a person, such as verbal abuse, threatening, name-calling or silent treatment.
Sexual Abuse: Any unwanted or non-consensual sexual activity imposed on a person, such as rape, molestation, coercion or forced sterilization.
Financial Abuse: Control of a person's financial resources or withholding of financial support, such as stealing money or assets, preventing access to bank accounts or credit cards.
Psychological Abuse: Inflicting emotional harm or mental stress by manipulation, gaslighting, constant criticism or belittling.
Child Abuse: Any harm, neglect or maltreatment of a child, including physical, emotional, sexual or psychological abuse.
Elder Abuse: Any mistreatment or neglect of elderly, vulnerable or dependent adults, including physical, emotional, sexual or financial abuse.
Stalking: Persistent and unwanted attention, contact or surveillance imposed on a person, such as following, threatening or harassing.
Coercive Control: A pattern of controlling behavior used to dominate or intimidate a partner, including isolating, monitoring, or regulating their behavior, transportation, communications, or clothing.
"It can assume multiple forms, including physical, verbal, emotional, economic, religious, reproductive, or sexual abuse."
"It involves violence against children, parents, or the elderly."
"Worldwide, the victims of domestic violence are overwhelmingly women, and women tend to experience more severe forms of violence."
"The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 1 in 3 of all women are subject to domestic violence at some point in their life."
"Research has established that there exists a direct and significant correlation between a country's level of gender inequality and rates of domestic violence."
"Domestic violence is among the most underreported crimes worldwide for both men and women."
"In abusive relationships, there may be a cycle of abuse during which tensions rise and an act of violence is committed, followed by a period of reconciliation and calm."
"Many people do not recognize themselves as abusers or victims, because they may consider their experiences as family conflicts that had gotten out of control."
"As a result of abuse, victims may experience physical disabilities, dysregulated aggression, chronic health problems, mental illness, limited finances, and a poor ability to create healthy relationships."
"Children who live in a household with violence often show psychological problems from an early age, such as avoidance, hypervigilance to threats and dysregulated aggression."
"Victims may be trapped in domestically violent situations through isolation, power and control, traumatic bonding to the abuser, cultural acceptance, lack of financial resources, fear, and shame, or to protect children."
"[...] includes the use of technology to harass, control, monitor, stalk or hack."
"Domestic murder includes stoning, bride burning, honor killing, and dowry death, which sometimes involves non-cohabitating family members."
"It can range from subtle, coercive forms to marital rape and other violent physical abuse, such as choking, beating, female genital mutilation, and acid throwing that may result in disfigurement or death."
"In 2015, the United Kingdom's Home Office widened the definition of domestic violence to include coercive control."
"Domestic violence often happens in the context of forced or child marriages."
"In some countries, domestic violence may be seen as justified or legally permitted, particularly in cases of actual or suspected infidelity on the part of the woman."
"Victims may experience severe psychological disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)."
"It may produce an intergenerational cycle of violence in children and other family members, who may feel that such violence is acceptable or condoned."