From bullying and manipulative mind games to sexual harassment and elder care neglect, sexual, physical, emotional, and verbal abuse is rampant in our society. No one is immune from these kinds of abusive people, but everyone can make healthy choices to end those destructive relationship patterns.
Different Types of Abuse
We tend to think of domestic abuse as physical violence or assault on a wife but in reality, domestic abuse is the summary of physically, sexually and psychologically abusive behaviors directed by one partner against another, regardless of their marital status or gender. Usually, when one form of abuse exists, it is coupled with other forms as well. Physical assault is the obvious form of Domestic Violence, the most visible, and also the most lethal. Assaults start small, maybe a small shove during an argument, or forcefully grabbing your wrist, but over time, physical abuse usually becomes more severe, and more frequent, and can result in the death of the victim.
Physical Abuse: Physical abuse is any act of violence on the victim, and can include: slapping, kicking, shoving, choking, pinching, pulling hair, punching, throwing things, forced feeding, burning, beating, use of weapons (gun, knives, or any object), or physical restraint—pinning against wall, floor, bed etc.
Sexual Abuse: Sexual abuse may be defined as any sexual encounter without consent and includes any unwanted touching, forced sexual activity, be it oral, anal or vaginal, forcing the victim to perform sexual acts, painful or degrading acts during intercourse, and exploitation through photography or prostitution. Sexual Abuse involves: excessive jealousy; calling you sexually derogatory names; forcing unwanted sexual act; criticizing you sexually; forcing you to strip; sadistic sexual acts; withholding sex and/or affection; minimizing or denying your feelings about sex or sexual preferences; forcing sex after physical assault; using coercion to force sex; taking unwanted sexual photos; or forcing you into prostitution.
According to a poll of over 8,000 women conducted by WomanSavers, over 54 percent of women said they were sexually molested by an adult male as a child. Statistics such as these are staggering and unless our laws are changed, it is doubtful these statistics will decline in the near future.
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