Domestic violence can be defined as a pattern of abusive behavior used to establish power and control within the context of an intimate relationship. It can include:

Verbal Abuse: constant criticism, making humiliating comments, name-calling, yelling, swearing

Emotional Abuse: denying/shifting blame, isolation, monitoring correspondence and whereabouts, destruction of property, stalking, using threatening actions or gestures

Financial Abuse: preventing a partner from getting or keeping a job or attending school, denying access to financial information and/or family income, damaging or ruining a partner’s credit

Physical Abuse: hitting, slapping, kicking, choking, pushing, punching, burning, using a weapon or other object to cause injury

Sexual Abuse: forcing a partner to engage in unwanted sexual acts, refusing to practice safe sex