Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is often used as a synonym for intimate partner violence, which is committed by one of the people in an intimate relationship against the other person and can take place in heterosexual or same-sex relationships or between former spouses or partners. In its broadest sense, domestic violence also involves violence against children, parents, or the elderly.

Globally, the victims of domestic violence are overwhelmingly women, and they tend to experience more severe forms of violence. They are also likelier than men to use intimate partner violence in self-defense. Domestic violence is among the most underreported crimes worldwide for both men and women. Due to social stigmas regarding male victimization, men who are victims of domestic violence face an increased likelihood of being overlooked by healthcare providers.

Domestic violence often occurs when the abuser believes that abuse is an entitlement, acceptable, justified, or unlikely to be reported. It may produce an intergenerational cycle of violence in children and other family members, who may feel that such violence is acceptable or condoned. Many people do not recognize themselves as abusers or victims because they may consider their experiences as family conflicts that got out of control. Awareness, perception, definition, and documentation of domestic violence differs widely.

In abusive relationships, there may be a cycle of abuse during which tensions rise and an act of violence is committed, followed by a period of reconciliation and calm. The victims may be trapped in domestically violent situations through isolation, power and control, traumatic bonding to the abuser, cultural acceptance, lack of financial resources, fear, shame, or to protect children. As a result of abuse, victims may experience physical disabilities, dysregulated aggression, chronic health problems, mental illness, limited finances, and a poor ability to create healthy relationships. Victims may experience severe psychological disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Children who live in a household with violence often show psychological problems from an early age, such as avoidance, hypervigilance to threats, and dysregulated aggression which may contribute to vicarious traumatization.

*Content from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_violence