Domestic violence is when a person seeks to exercise control or power over their partner in the context of a relationship. There can be different types of abuse: physical, sexual, psychological, emotional or economic. The Victim can be indistinctly the man or the woman and is usually by the one who has the position of power in the relationship.
Next, we will give you a succinct description of the types of abuse and their main characteristics
Physical Abuse:
This article explains what is physical abuse, which is possibly the most recognizable form of abuse. The perpetrators can cause physical and emotional injuries in some irreversible cases and can put at risk the life of the sufferer. This type of abuse should not be taken lightly because they are not usually isolated events and tend to get worse in each crisis.
We will be in the presence of physical abuse if, in any way, you are hit with the hand or any other forceful object, wounds caused by knives or sharp objects or firearms, non-consensual sexual intercourse or any other type of physical aggression, regardless of whether or not it leave scars.
Psychological or Emotional Abuse:
This is a researcher's article from the University of Oregon that makes a reference to emotional abuse and emotional awareness. Also explains what are the types of abuse which promotes an imbalance of power within a relationship and consists of the victim's contempt and impairment of self-esteem and emotional security through repeated cruel and humiliating treatment consisting of destructive criticism of all kinds, harassment, threats, insults. It is often imperceptible to an external person.
Sexual abuse or harassment
This article talks about this type of domestic violence, what is, what does it consist of and how it can be denounced if a person both male and female is suffering this type of situation. We will be in the presence of this type of abuse when the aggressor forces the victim to have sexual relations in a non-consensual manner, using constriction, threats, and physical force.
Economic violence
In this article of the University of Michigan explain what is economic violence. It is a type of domestic violence where the aggressor uses the money to control his partner. It is a technique where the aggressor mainly isolates his partner, preventing him or her from working in order to corner him to a state of vulnerability and financial dependence and thus be able to exercise domination and control over him. For example, when they excessively control household expenses. You have to justify all the expenditures and movements of money with receipts and tickets, and theycan even cut off your access to joint bank accounts.
Domestic violence develops through phases that we will describe below.
Initial or Stress Accumulation Phase
This article from Harvard University talks about stress and how it affects our health. It is a consequence of domestic violence, and in this phase, the aggressor becomes increasingly absorb into isolating his victim to prevent them from leaving. What also occurs is verbal attacks, hostility, abuse, and insults so that the victim sees decimated self-esteem and self-respect. In this phase, violence tends to be more subtle.
Second Phase or Phase of Higher Violence
This article talks about the cycles of domestic violence, among them the cycle of Higher violence which occurs normally when the victim refuses to maintain an attitude of submission to the aggressive attitude of his aggressor. Trying to rebel against his mandate triggers the aggressor into an outbreak of violence that can lead to physical aggression and where even life can be seriously compromised of the victim. These outbreaks usually get worse in each crisis.
Third Phase or Attempt of reconciliation
This article explains the phase of reconciliation in the cycle of violence. In this phase the aggressor shows guilt, promises that he will never harm the victim again, often makes gifts of great value in a gross attempt to atone for his guilt, the victim often wants to believe him.
This article published in the Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science, explains the consequences in our health of domestic violence. People who have been subjected during a prolonged period to a situation of domestic violence can often present a disorder called Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome which makes them feel stressed and afraid even after they have left the dangerous situation. They will likely require psychiatric and psychological help to overcome what happened.
On the other hand, when this situation of violence is prolonged, it generates a state of defenselessness known as INDEFENSION LEARNED (Learned Helplessness), a disorder in which the person perceives as uncontrollable their situation of violence (the victim thinks that whatever he does to avoid that situation is useless). The severity of the learned helplessness disorder will be proportional to the victim's perception of uncontrollability of the situation, its chronicity over time, if it is situational or if it is generalized to all areas of life or to the intensity of the trauma.