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What is Domes­tic and Fam­i­ly Vio­lence?
Domes­tic and fam­i­ly vio­lence hap­pens when one per­son in a close rela­tion­ship uses vio­lence or con­trol to hurt or dom­i­nate the oth­er per­son. This can hap­pen in any type of relationship.

What Caus­es Domes­tic and Fam­i­ly Vio­lence?
Domes­tic vio­lence is caused by peo­ple who choose to abuse oth­ers. There are many rea­sons why this hap­pens, including:

• Gen­der Roles
• Tox­ic Masculinity
• Con­trol­ling Attitudes
• Accept­ing Violence
• Pow­er Imbalance
• Back­lash
• Effects of Racism and Colonialism

Who Can Be Involved in Domes­tic and Fam­i­ly Vio­lence?
Domes­tic and fam­i­ly vio­lence can hap­pen in many kinds of rela­tion­ships, not just between mar­ried cou­ples. It can hap­pen in:

• De fac­to relationships
• Same-sex rela­tion­ships
• Fam­i­ly members
• Ex-part­ners
• Casu­al or non-roman­tic relationships

Types of Domes­tic and Fam­i­ly Vio­lence
There are dif­fer­ent types of vio­lence. These can include:

• Phys­i­cal Abuse: Hit­ting, punch­ing, kick­ing, chok­ing, or using weapons.
• Ver­bal Abuse: Yelling, swear­ing, or say­ing hurt­ful things.
• Sex­u­al Abuse: Forc­ing sex­u­al acts or touch­ing, even if you are in a relationship.
• Emo­tion­al Abuse: Mak­ing threats, blam­ing, or putting some­one down all the time.
• Social Abuse: Con­trol­ling who some­one can see, where they go, or what they do.
• Finan­cial Abuse: Con­trol­ling or lim­it­ing access to mon­ey or mak­ing some­one depen­dent on the abuser.