______________________________________________________________ Understanding Domestic Violence
• Intruding into a partner’s email and personal accounts • Installing tracking devices on a partner’s cell phone to monitor their whereabouts, calls, and messages • Surveillance of social media interactions • Insisting on access to a partner’s passwords FINANCIAL ABUSE Any behavior that maintains power and control over finances constitutes financial abuse (Women Against Abuse, n.d.). Examples include causing a partner to lose their job through direct and indirect means, such as: • Inflicting physical harm or injury that would prevent the person from attending work • Harassing partner at their workplace • Controlling financial assets and effectively putting partner on an allowance • Damaging a partner’s credit score ABUSE BY IMMIGRATION STATUS There are specific tactics of abuse that may be used against immigrant partners, including: • Destroying immigration papers • Restricting partner from learning English • Threatening to hurt partner’s family in their home country • Threatening to have partner deported It is important to remember that in the U.S. undocumented immigrants have rights and protections, and that in the case of an emergency, contacting the police should be a priority. CASE STUDY 1 A telephone call from an emotional woman (tearful/crying) led to the reporting of a crime (existence of an immediate danger to life and limb) to the police: “Come to address ______, apartment __ immediately! My ex- husband has been assaulting me. He beat up my older son! He has been breaking into the apartment and gets us out and threatens to kill everyone.” Then the telephone line was cut. In the background of the conversation, the officer in the control center hears screams and noises as if objects or furniture were being demolished.
TYPES OF ABUSE According to Women Against Abuse (2024b), there are six types of abuse which are highlighted in the following sections. PHYSICAL ABUSE Perhaps the most recognized form, physical abuse may include behaviors such as: • Hitting, slapping, punching, kicking • Burning • Strangulation • Damaging personal property • Refusing medical care and/or controlling medication • Coercing partner into substance abuse • Use of weapons EMOTIONAL ABUSE Emotional abuse occurs when an intimate partner seeks to control their loved one by: • Name calling, insulting • Blaming the partner for everything • Extreme jealousy • Intimidation • Shaming, humiliating • Isolation • Controlling what the partner does and where the partner goes • Stalking SEXUAL ABUSE Sexual abuse is not about sex. It is about power and includes any sexual behavior performed without a partner’s consent. Examples include: • Forcing a partner to have sex with other people (human trafficking) • Pursuing sexual activity when the victim is not fully conscious or is afraid to say no • Hurting partner physically during sex • Coercing partner to have sex without protection or sabotaging birth control TECHNOLOGICAL ABUSE This type of mistreatment involves employing technology to manipulate and surveil a partner. Technological abuse can affect individuals of all age groups, yet it is particularly prevalent among teenagers who frequently engage with technology and social media without adult supervision. Examples of techno- logical abuse encompass:
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