What is domestic and family violence?

Domestic and family violence takes many forms. It involves violent, abusive or intimidating behaviour carried out by a partner, carer or family member to control, dominate, humiliate or instil fear.

Domestic and family violence can include the following types of abuse:

Verbal

This can include, but is not limited to:

  • swearing and continual humiliation, either in private or in public
  • attacks following clear themes that focus on intelligence, sexuality, body image and capacity as a parent and spouse.

Psychological

This can include, but is not limited to:

  • driving dangerously
  • destruction of property
  • abuse of pets in front of family members
  • making threats regarding custody of any children
  • asserting that the police and justice system will not assist, support or believe the victim
  • threatening to ‘out’ the person.

Emotional

This can include, but is not limited to:

  • blaming the victim for all problems in the relationship
  • constantly comparing the victim with others to undermine self-esteem and self-worth
  • sporadic sulking
  • withdrawing all interest and engagement (for example weeks of silence)
  • emotional blackmail and suicidal threats.

Social

This can include, but is not limited to:

  • systematic isolation from family and friends through techniques such as ongoing rudeness to family and friends to alienate them
  • instigating and controlling the move to a location where the victim has no established social circle or employment opportunities
  • restricting use of the car or telephone
  • forbidding or physically preventing the victim from going out and meeting people.

Financial

This can include, but is not limited to complete control of all money, through:

  • forbidding access to bank accounts
  • providing only an inadequate ‘allowance’
  • not allowing the victim to seek or hold employment
  • coercing to sign documents or make false declarations
  • using all wages earned by the victim for household expenses
  • controlling the victim’s pension
  • denying that the victim has an entitlement to joint property.

Physical

This can include, but is not limited to:

  • direct assault on the body (strangulation or choking, shaking, eye injuries, biting, slapping, pushing, spitting, punching, or kicking)
  • use of weapons including objects
  • assault of children
  • locking the victim in or out of the house
  • forcing the victim to take drugs, withholding medication, food or medical care
  • sleep deprivation.

Sexual

This can include, but is not limited to:

  • any form of pressured/unwanted sex or sexual degradation by an intimate partner or ex-partner, such as sexual activity without consent
  • causing pain during sex
  • assaulting genitals
  • coercive sex without protection against pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease
  • making the victim perform sexual acts unwillingly (including taking or distributing explicit photos without their consent)
  • criticising or using sexually degrading insults.

Harassment and stalking

This can include, but is not limited to:

  • following and watching
  • telephone and online harassment
  • tracking with Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
  • being intimidating.

A person does not need to be married for it to be considered ‘domestic and family violence’. It can be perpetrated by a partner, family member, carer, boyfriend or girlfriend.

A person does not need to experience all of these types of abuse for it to be considered domestic or family violence.