Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is defined as a pattern of behavior in relationships to obtain or preserve power and control over another. Domestic violence includes physical, sexual, emotional, economic, psychological, or technological actions, threats, or coercive behavior to influence another person.

Physical Abuse
Definition: Any intentional act causing injury or trauma to another person through bodily contact.	Includes: Hitting, slapping, shoving, grabbing, pinching, biting, and hair pulling. Denying a person medical care or forcing alcohol/drug use.
Sexual Abuse
Definition: Coercion/attempted coercion of any sexual contact/behavior without consent.	Includes: Marital rape, attacks on sexual parts of the body, forced sex after physical violence, or being treated in a sexually demeaning manner.
Emotional Abuse
Definition: Involves non-physical behaviors meant to control, isolate, or frighten a person.	Undermining an individual’s sense of self-worth and/or self-esteem is abusive. This may include, but is not limited to constant criticism, diminishing one’s abilities, name-calling, or damaging one’s relationship with his or her children.
Economic Abuse
Definition: When an intimate partner has control over the other partner’s access to economic resources and diminishes the victim’s capacity to support themselves and forces them to depend on the perpetrator financially.	The use of coercion, fraud, or manipulation to limit a person’s access to money, assets, credit, or financial information. Unfairly using a person’s personal economic resources. Exerting undue influence over a person’s financial and economic behavior or decisions, including forcing default on joint or other financial obligations. Exploiting powers of attorney, guardianship, or conservatorship, or failing or neglecting to act in the best interests of a person to whom one has a fiduciary duty.
Psychological Abuse
Definition: When a person exposes another person to a behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or other psychological problems.	Elements of psychological abuse include causing fear by intimidation. Threatening physical harm to self, partner, children, or partner’s family or friends. Destruction of pets and property. Forcing isolation from family, friends, school, or work.
Technological Abuse
Definition: A form of controlling behavior that involves the use of technology through coercion, stalking, or harassing another person using technology.	Behavior that harms, threatens, controls, stalks, harasses, impersonates, exploits, extorts, or monitors another person using any form of technology such as internet enabled devices, social media platforms, computers, mobile devices, cameras and imaging programs, apps, location tracking devices, or communication technologies, or any other emerging technologies.