Domestic abuse – what you need to know
On average police receive over 100 phone calls relating to domestic abuse every hour but only 15% of women who had experienced partner abuse in the last 12 months reported it to the police.
Every year, nearly 2 million people in the UK suffer some form of domestic abuse. That’s made up of 1.3 million female victims and 600,000 male victims.
These shocking statistics come from www.victimsupport.org.uk and highlight the scale of the challenge.
The problem is that domestic abuse almost always happens behind closed doors and whether it’s emotional, sexual, financial or physical will often include some form of psychological threat that if the victim opens up about what’s going on, it will get worse. This is why so much abuse goes unnoticed and
unreported.
It’s also one of the reasons why so many victims may even run to the defense of their abuser, because they fear the consequences of what would happen if the truth came out.
Spotting the signs in others
Because domestic abuse occurs behind closed doors it’s rarely obvious, but this doesn’t mean we’re powerless to help. There are often some signs we may notice that can be broken down into physical and emotional:
Physical
• Cuts & bruises
• Black eyes & unexplained marks
• Breaks and sprains
• Heavy makeup
• Keeping covered up in warm weather
• Lack of money
Emotional
• Signs of depression & anxiety
• Being apologetic or meek
• Becoming jumpy or nervous
• Becoming withdrawn or tearful
• Frequently cancelling plans
• Self-blame or low self-esteem
• Guarding their own phone
SIGNS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND ABUSE
If you answer yes to any of these, you may be in an abusive relationship.
Emotional abuse
Does your partner ever:
• Stop you from going to work or a place of study?
• Stop you from seeing friends or family?
• Accuse you of being unfaithful?
• Belittle you or put you down?
• Control your money, phone or internet use?
• Monitor your social media profiles?
• Keep tabs on where you are?
Threats & intimidation
Does your partner ever:
• Threaten to hurt you?
• Invade your personal space?
• Harass or follow you?
• Destroy your belongings?
• Read your emails, texts or listen in on phone calls?
• Threaten to harm themselves or the children?
Sexual abuse
Does your partner ever:
• Pressure you for sex?
• Hurt you during sex?
• Pressure you for unsafe sex?
• Make unwanted sexual demands
• Make unwanted advances on you?
Physical Abuse
Does your partner ever:
• Slap, hit or punch you?
• Throw things?
• Burn, bite or kick you?
• Choke you?
• Push or shove you?
Financial Abuse
Does your partner ever:
• Control or stop your spending?
• Control your means to make money
• Transfer your savings and assets to their name?
• Convince you to pay off their debt?
