DOMESTIC ABUSE
Domestic violence can occur to anyone-regardless of age, gender, race, sexuality. It is defined as an incident or a pattern of incidents displaying controlling, threatening, behaviour involving violence to maintain power and control in a relationship. It is usually performed by a partner/ex-partner or a family member.
The most common types of domestic abuse are:
Physical
Psychological
Sexual
And financial
HOW TO RECOGNISE DOMESTIC ABUSE
There are many signs that indicate someone is in an abusive relationship, such as:
Physical Violence
numerous occurrences of hitting, slapping, pinching, burning, restraint tactics (such as pinning you down by the neck), kicking
Sexual Abuse
making you uncomfortable
making degrading comments about your sexuality and your body
Forcing you to perform actions you are uncomfortable with
Intimidation tactics
Threatening to hurt you
Destroying personal belongings
Invading personal space
Threatening to hurt others around you
Controlling your money usage
Using your money
Verbal and emotional abuse
Shouting
name calling/mockery
ignoring you when you speak
blaming you for the abuse or deny severity of abuse
Lying to you
Making you feel bad for relying on their money
controlling your life- what you wear, who you can see, what you can do, isolating you from close friends/family
Acting gentle and kind in public
Justifying their actions by saying they have anger issues
Domestic abuse towards women and girls also includes family violence such as forced marriages, female genital mutilations or honour-based crimes (crimes justified through saying they are protecting the honour of the family)
DOMESTIC ABUSE AGAINST WOMEN
It is important to recognise that this can happen to anyone, and everyone should be given the support they need- man or woman. However, studies have proven that there is a considerably higher number of women experiencing severe and repeated cases of domestic abuse, when compared with men.
Surveys state that:
An estimated 2.0 million adults aged 16 to 59 years experienced domestic abuse in 2018. 65% of victims were women; 1.3 million were women, and 695,000 were men. (CSEW 2018)
Over 80% of high frequency victims-more than 10 crimes-were women (CSEW 2018)
73% of domestic homicide victims were women- with 82% of perpetrators being men (ONS 2018)
Women were four times as likely as men to have experienced attempts or actual sexual assault by a partner (CSEW 2018)
MANY CASES OF DOMESTIC ABUSE GO UNREPORTED DUE TO FEAR
What may be clear signs to some of an abusive relationship/situation may seem, to those involved, as a normal healthy relationship- due to insufficient knowledge about the topic. This also means more cases go unreported.
A study by the CSEW in 2018 showed that in the last 12 months only 18% of women who experienced domestic abuse actually reported it to the police.
We need to stop this horrific problem- and spreading awareness is the first step to doing so.
REPORTING DOMESTIC ABUSE:
If you believe you or anyone you know has experienced any form of domestic abuse, contact any of the relevant organisations below.
Don’t be afraid to speak up even if in doubt- all organisations will take you seriously and will be able to offer support and guidance. They will take action only after ensuring your safety.
Organsiations that can help:
Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge
0808 200 0247
Galop (for the LGBTQ+ community)
0800 999 5428
Email: help@galop.org.uk
Rape Crisis (England and Wales)
0808 802 9999
Scotland’s Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline
0800 027 1234