Types of Domestic Violence to Be Aware of
It is not proven that domestic violence incidents increase during the holidays, however, certain behaviors and actions constituting domestic violence tend to become more common during this time of year. Several factors such as spending extensive time with family, financial stress, excessive drinking, long road trips, and unreasonable expectations could result in domestic violence incidents.
You may have experienced some of those factors yourself (i.e. spending lots of time with family, drinking, and struggling financially) due to COVID-19. Considering that the pandemic has negatively impacted the nation for 9 months, it is not surprising that tensions and emotions are high for many families during the holidays this year. COVID-19 has understandably brought out the worst in people and pushed them to their breaking points, therefore domestic violence accusations may potentially arise.
While many people assume domestic violence is only physical violence, you must know that there are several ways this offense can occur. Control, isolation, emotional abuse, and economic abuse are common elements of domestic violence that many people aren’t aware of.
As such, review the following types of domestic violence to understand the various ways in which this crime can occur:
Control
- Demanding your partner’s usernames and passwords to emails, work-related platforms, apps, and social media
- Obtaining your partner’s house keys, car keys, phone, computer, etc.
- Abandoning your partner in dangerous places
- Forcing your partner to disclose their emails, text messages, call logs, and social media chats
- Tracking your partner’s location constantly
- Stalking your partner
- Controlling what your partner wears, eats, drinks, etc. as well as where they go
Emotional Abuse
- Ignoring your partner’s feelings
- Embarrassing your partner in public or private
- Continuously calling your partner disrespectful names
- Ridiculing or insulting your partner
- Continuously shouting at your partner
- Blaming your partner for everything
- Extreme jealousy
- Intimidating your partner
Isolation
- Prohibiting your partner from seeing their friends, family, and co-workers for the holidays
- Making your partner feel guilty when they want to see friends, family, and co-workers
- Threatening to withhold attention and affection if your partner sees anyone besides you
- Refusing to socialize with your partner’s friends, family, and co-workers at holiday parties
- Not allowing your partner to go anywhere without you present
Financial Abuse
- Harassing your partner at their job
- Hurting your partner’s credit score
- Prohibiting your partner from buying gifts for their loved ones
- Hiding or spending your partner’s money so they become financially dependent on you
- Causing physical or emotional harm that prevents your partner from working
- Withholding money or regulating how much money your partner gets (like an allowance)
Domestic Violence by the Numbers
To exemplify the extent to which domestic violence occurs in the US, let’s take a look at the statistics:
- Annually, an average of 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner, equating to more than 10 million Americans suffering from domestic violence each year
- Women are twice as likely to be targets of domestic violence than men
- 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner contact sexual violence, and/or intimate partner stalking with impacts such as injury, fearfulness, post-traumatic stress disorder, use of victim services, contraction of sexually transmitted diseases, etc.
- 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner
- 1 in 7 women and 1 in 25 men have been injured by an intimate partner
- 1 in 10 women have been raped by an intimate partner
- The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500%
- Domestic victimization is correlated with a higher rate of depression and suicidal behavior
- The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $8.3 billion per year
Put a Former Prosecutor on Your Side
If you are facing domestic violence charges in Orlando, it’s in your best interests to retain a former prosecutor with insights into both sides of the criminal justice system to defend your charges. That’s why your case will be well taken care of when you put it in the hands of our Orlando domestic violence lawyers at Alers Law Firm.
We are available 24/7 to answer any questions or concerns you may have. To begin your defense, contact us at (407) 988-0992!
