Domestic Violence
What Is Domestic Violence?
By TOBY D. GOLDSMITH, MD
Domestic violence is when one partner in an intimate relationship abuses the other. The abuse can be physical, sexual, emotional or a combination of all three.
Physical abuse can include very aggressive acts, such as beatings and forced sexual activity including intercourse, or it can take the form of less severe acts like throwing, shoving and slapping.
In emotional abuse, the abuser constantly humiliates and puts down the victim. The weapons of emotional abuse include verbal insults, threats, control of physical activity, unfounded accusations of infidelity, control of economic decisions and social isolation.
Depending on the relationship, the physical or emotional abuse may happen very often or not as often. Either way, it will usually continue and get worse over time. No matter how often the abuse happens, the victim of domestic violence suffers constant terror and stress, living in fear of the next episode.
While women are most commonly the victims of their male partners, domestic violence can happen between all sorts of people and in all sorts of relationships. It happens between people who are married and between people who aren’t living together. It can be abuse by a man against a woman, or by a woman against a man. It can occur in gay or lesbian couples.
Domestic violence is a common reality in our society. It occurs in all social classes, ethnic groups, cultures and religions. Most people don’t realize how common it is, because very often victims of abuse keep quiet.
These two studies show just how strongly victims feel the need to keep quiet:
• A study of women treated by medical practitioners reported that 92 percent of the women whose partner had physically abused them did not reveal the abuse to their physicians, and 52 percent had not discussed the abuse with anyone. (Social Problems, 34 (1), 1987)
• The National Crime Survey found that 48 percent of all domestic violence incidents
By TOBY D. GOLDSMITH, MD
Domestic violence is when one partner in an intimate relationship abuses the other. The abuse can be physical, sexual, emotional or a combination of all three.
Physical abuse can include very aggressive acts, such as beatings and forced sexual activity including intercourse, or it can take the form of less severe acts like throwing, shoving and slapping.
In emotional abuse, the abuser constantly humiliates and puts down the victim. The weapons of emotional abuse include verbal insults, threats, control of physical activity, unfounded accusations of infidelity, control of economic decisions and social isolation.
Depending on the relationship, the physical or emotional abuse may happen very often or not as often. Either way, it will usually continue and get worse over time. No matter how often the abuse happens, the victim of domestic violence suffers constant terror and stress, living in fear of the next episode.
While women are most commonly the victims of their male partners, domestic violence can happen between all sorts of people and in all sorts of relationships. It happens between people who are married and between people who aren’t living together. It can be abuse by a man against a woman, or by a woman against a man. It can occur in gay or lesbian couples.
Domestic violence is a common reality in our society. It occurs in all social classes, ethnic groups, cultures and religions. Most people don’t realize how common it is, because very often victims of abuse keep quiet.
These two studies show just how strongly victims feel the need to keep quiet:
• A study of women treated by medical practitioners reported that 92 percent of the women whose partner had physically abused them did not reveal the abuse to their physicians, and 52 percent had not discussed the abuse with anyone. (Social Problems, 34 (1), 1987)
• The National Crime Survey found that 48 percent of all domestic violence incidents