DomesticViolence: What is it, and what can you do about it?
Let’sstart off with a definition of Domestic Violence, so you can see if you
recognize it in any relationships.
Domestic violence (DV) is apattern of abusive behavior in any relationship where onepartner attempts to gain or maintain power and control over another. It can be
physical, sexual, emotional, economic, psychological, or technological. DV may
be threatening or coercive behavior that negatively affects an intimate
partner. This includes intimidation, manipulation, humiliation, and isolation, to
name a few. Here are some examples of abusive behavior:
Physical abuse: punching, slapping, grabbing, biting, and hair-pulling,are all forms of physical abuse. This type of abuse also includes denying a
partner medical care or forcing them to take alcohol and/or drugs.
Sexual Harassment: Forcing or attempting to force sexual intercourse or anyother non-consensual act. Sexual harassment includes butis not limited to, marital rape, sexual assault, forced sex after physical violence, or indecent exposure.
Emotional abuse; Undermining a person's sense of self-worth is bullying.This includes, but is not limited to, constant criticism,curtailment of rights, name-calling, or damage to a relationship with children.
Economic exploitation: Controlling or restricting a person's right to obtain,use, or retain economic resources to which he is entitled. This includes using coercion, fraud, or deception to prevent someone from
obtaining money, assets, credit, or financial information
Psychological Abuse: This includes, but is not limited to, inciting fearthrough harassment; making threats of harm to self, partner, children, family,
or friends; destruction of property. It also includes forced isolation from
family, friends, school, and work.
Technological abuse: Action or conduct intended to harm, threaten,manipulate, harass, recruit, exploit, extort, or monitor another person through any form of technology, including, but not limited to: Internet-enabled devices, online. space and platforms, computers, mobile devices, cameras and imaging programs, applications, geo-tracking devices, communications technologies, or any emerging technologies. You should monitorsocial media platforms of the abuser to see ifthey are speaking negatively about you or posting private information or pictures.
Domestic violence can affectanyone, regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, sexuality, or gender. Domestic violence affects people from all socioeconomic backgrounds and educational levels. Domestic violence and gender-based violence can affect intimate partners who are married, cohabiting, dating, or sharing a child.
Domestic violence not onlyaffects its victims, but also has a great impact onother family members, friends, co-workers, and the community as a whole. Childrenwho grow up witnessing domestic violence are among the most affected by this
crime. Repeated exposure to domestic violence can cause psychological damage to
a child, causing them to believe it is a normal part of life and repeat the cycle.
What canyou do about domestic violence in New York City?
NYC 24-Hour Domestic Violence Hotline:1-800-621-HOPE
You can call this hotline for help, 24 hours aday. They can give you information on what to do next, including where to go if
you need immediate assistance such as shelter.
If you are in immediate danger, you shouldcall 911 and ask the police for assistance. The offender can be removed from
the house or arrested if there has been physical abuse.
Children witnessing domestic violence
If you are a parent who is the victim ofdomestic violence and your have minor children in the house who are witnessing
the abuse, you must do something about it or you can lose your children.
Children who are exposed to domestic abuse committed by one or both of their
parents suffer from it also. Domestic abuse can trigger a Child Protective
Services investigation.
If itis alleged that you did not take appropriate action to protect your children
from exposure to the DV, you could end up facing neglect charges in Family
Court.
If you would like to learnmore about Family Court in Nassau County, or perhaps schedule a free
consultation with a Family Lawyer, please visit https://divorcelawyersnassaucounty.com/
The point of this discussionis to help educate the public on the pitfalls of domestic violence, what it
looks like, and how to combat it. The Violence Against Women Act contains
definitions of domestic violence that govern programs funded under the Act. The
discussion here does not change the definition of DV in VAWA.
Sources: National DomesticViolence Hotline, National Center for Victims of Crime, and WomensLaw.org.
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