Domestic violence, also called “partner abuse,” is a pattern of abusive behavior one person uses in a relationship to control, humiliate, and hurt another person.  It can be emotional, sexual, financial, physical, or about your identity.

Domestic violence can happen to anyone – rich, poor, old, young, rural, urban, of any race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, and background – and is deserved by no one.

If someone is doing any of these things…

Emotional Abuse:

·        Puts you down and makes you feel worthless
·        Is overly possessive (gets extremely jealous, spies on you)
·        Blames everything on you
·        Isolates you from your friends and family
·        Tries to control your life
·        Is lying and manipulating

Sexual Abuse:

·         Doesn’t respect your boundaries
·         Describes your body in ways you don’t like
·         Posts or shares nude photos or videos without your permission

Cultural/ Identity Abuse:

·         Makes you feel bad about your race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or other important parts of who you are
·         Says no one else will love you because of who you are
·         Doesn’t let you be yourself
·         Threatens to tell other people about parts of your identity that you prefer to keep private

Economic Abuse:

·         Makes it hard for you to work or go to school
·         Controls the money
·         Is running up credit cards in your name