Learn About Domestic Violence

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ISN’T CAUSED BY UNEMPLOYMENT, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, OR MENTAL ILLNESS.  IT IS CAUSED BY POWER AND CONTROL — ONE PERSON HAVING POWER OVER ANOTHER PERSON
IN A RELATIONSHIP AND USING THAT POWER TO EXERT CONTROL OVER THEIR INTIMATE PARTNER.

Types of Abuse

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse is the most identifiable and involves the use of physical violence to maintain control over an intimate partner.

Examples of Physical Abuse

  • Punching

  • Kicking

  • Biting

  • Shoving

  • Slapping

  • Strangulation

  • Using Weapons

  • Damaging Property

Emotional abuse is harder to identify and involves non-physical behaviors used to isolate, control, and scare an intimate partner.

Examples of Emotional Abuse

  • Name Calling

  • Possessiveness

  • Stalking

  • Blaming

  • Criticism

  • Isolation

  • Threatening

  • Manipulation

emotional Abuse

Financial Abuse

Financial or economic abuse occurs when one partner controls your financial situation without your consent.

Examples of Financial Abuse

  • Providing an allowance

  • Controlling your paycheck

  • Preventing you from working

  • Stealing money from you

  • Purposefully ruining your credit

sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse can range from persuasion to forced sexual contact. No matter what type of relationship, you never owe your partner intimacy of any kind.

Examples of Sexual Abuse

  • Forced Sex (Rape)

  • Inflicting Pain During Sex

  • Use of Weapons During Sex

  • Forced Sex with Multiple Partners

  • Pressuring You Into Sex

  • Refusing to Use a Condom

  • Forcing Pregnancy

  • Withholding Birth Control

Spiritual Abuse

Spiritual abuse occurs when one partner uses religious beliefs to control a partner, and it can occur with any religion.

Examples of Religious Abuse

  • Using scripture to minimize or rationalize abuse (physical, financial, or emotional abuse, or marital rape

  • Ridiculing a partner’s religious beliefs

  • Forcing religion on children without partner’s consent

  • Using your religious beliefs to ridicule or shame you

*Abusive behavior is not limited to the examples listed above. If you are afraid of
your partner, or if your partner belittles or manipulates you, please call our hotline
at 1-877-701-7233 to learn more.

Important domestic violence STATISTICS

  • 1 in 3 women in Texas will be victims of domestic violence in their lifetime. 

  • Most intimate partner homicides in the US happen by gunshot.

  • If you are strangled by your partner, you are 700x more likely to be strangled by them a second time, and 800x more likely to die at the hands of that partner, typically by gunshot.

  • 1 in 15 children are exposed to intimate partner violence each year, and 90% of these children are eyewitnesses to the violence.

  • Victims of intimate partner violence lose a total of 8.0 million days of paid work each year.