Physical/Sexual Abuse. When people think of domestic violence, minds often go to physical abuse first, and foremost. Physical violence includes throwing objects, hitting, biting, choking, drowning, and threating or using a weapon on the victim. Obvious signs of recent physical abuse at home are bruises, black eyes, red or purple marks at the neck, and broken or sprained bones, especially wrists. However, abuse has quite a few short-term effects on the body …show more content…
Mental and emotional abuse is an aspect of domestic violence that is not as often thought of. There are actually many different forms of mental and emotional abuse. Sometimes one partner will be overly dominant, and treat the other like a servant, and make all important decisions for the both of them. With this type of behavior, often comes economic isolation. The abuser will be completely in control of finances, and prevent their partner from getting a job and/or force the victim to beg for money or an allowance, ultimately giving them no financial control or resources. Another method of abuse includes threats and coercion, which can be as simple as threatening to hurt leave, or report the victim to resources, to threating to commit suicide and forcing them into doing illegal …show more content…
It is well known that women make up the majority of domestic violence victims, however, men suffer similar fates a larger amount than most people realize. They often find themselves suffering many of the forms of the abuse above with intimate partners, regardless of the gender of their partner. Outsiders and those who have not experienced domestic violence often wonder why victims stay in the relationship, and often overlook complex factors that prevent victims from leaving. Money, family, shame, fear, isolation, and even love are just a few of the myriad of reasons victims stay. Many survivor stories online reveal even if a victim manages to break free, they often continue to be plagued by threats, and stalked despite restraining orders. Some abusers will even threaten to kill their exes and their families if they ever find them. These threats can cause victims to have to uproot their lives and sometimes begin again in order to protect themselves and their family. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, only about 20% of women who experience domestic violence gain civil protection orders, and almost two thirds of these orders are violated. Men who suffer abuse from their partner have an even more difficult time getting out of the relationship. One of the reasons is that thy feel humiliated because they have not met the double standard where men