The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to domestic violence:
Domestic violence – pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship, such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation. It is also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence (IPV).
Domestic violence can be described as all of the following:
Violence – use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes and may include some combination of verbal, emotional, economic, physical and sexual abuse.
Control – Braiker identified the following ways that manipulators control their victims:Positive reinforcement: praise, superficial charm, superficial sympathy (crocodile tears), excessive apologizing; money, approval, gifts; attention, facial expressions such as a forced laugh or smile; public recognition.
Negative reinforcement: removing one from a negative situation as a reward. For example: "You won't have to walk home if you allow me to do this to you."
Intermittent or partial reinforcement: partial or intermittent negative reinforcement can create an effective climate of fear and doubt. Partial or intermittent positive reinforcement can encourage the victim to persist.
Punishment: berating, yelling, refusing to speak to partner, intimidation, threats, swearing, emotional blackmail, the guilt trap, sulking, crying, and playing the victim.
Traumatic one-trial learning: verbal abuse, explosive anger, or other intimidating behavior to establish dominance or superiority; even one incident of such behavior can condition or train victims to avoid upsetting, confronting or contradicting the manipulator.
Oppression – exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner. It can also be defined as an act or instance of oppressing, the state of being oppressed, and the feeling of being heavily burdened, mentally or physically, by troubles, adverse conditions, and anxiety.
Epidemiology of domestic violence – Domestic violence occurs across the world, in various cultures, and affects people across society, irrespective of economic status or gender.
The following table includes the forms of violence typically defined as part of Intimate partner violence, which is domestic violence in an intimate relationship by one's spouse or lover. It also includes a column for other family members or partners.
The rate of occurrence varies considerably based upon one's country, socio-economic class, culture, religion, family history and other factors.
Men and LGBT
LGBT Domestic violence - an under-researched area with a very wide range of estimates of prevalence. Lesbians often have fewer resources available for shelter and counselling.
Men's rights groups – state that women are as violent as men and that domestic violence is sex-symmetrical. A large study, compiled by Martin S. Fiebert, shows that women are as likely to be abusive to men, but the men are less likely to be hurt. However, he noted, men are seriously injured in 38% of the cases in which "extreme aggression" is used. Fiebert additionally noted that his work was not meant to minimize the serious effects of men who abuse women. Women are far more likely to use weapons, such as throwing a plate or firing a gun.
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) contends that a national survey, supported by NIJ, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics that examined more serious assaults, does not support the conclusion of similar rates of male and female spousal assaults. This survey was conducted within a safety or crime context and clearly found more partner abuse by men against women.
Another study published in the Violence & Victims Journal Vol. 1 concluded that a feminist analysis of Domestic Abuse was necessary to combat common misconceptions. The study found that 92% of women who used violence against their male partners were in self-defense, and that violence reciprocated by victims may be an integral part of abuse victimology.
Stop Abuse For Everyone (SAFE), a United States domestic violence organization, advocates for an "inclusive" model of domestic violence, focusing on groups that are "lacking in services", such as abused men, gay, lesbian, intersex, and transgender victims, and the elderly.
Conflict tactics scale – research method for identifying intimate partner violence by measuring the conflict tactic behaviors.
Cycle of abuse – social cycle theory to explain patterns of behavior of a violent intimate relationship: Tension building phase, acting-out phase, reconciliation / honeymoon phase, and calm phase, which leads back to the tension building phase.
Cycle of violence
Within a relationship – repeated acts of violence as a cyclical pattern, associated with high emotions and doctrines of retribution or revenge. The pattern, or cycle, repeats and can happen many times during a relationship. Each phase may last a different length of time and over time the level of violence may increase.
Intergenerational cycle of violence – violence that is passed from father to son or daughter, parent to child, or sibling to sibling.
Misandry – the hatred or dislike of men or boys, which manifests like Misogyny.
Misogyny – the hatred or dislike of women or girls, may be manifested in varying degrees of intensity, like teaching girls or women to feel self-contempt or violence.
Relational disorder – dysfunction within a relationship, versus being specific to a specific individual's dysfunction.
Situational couple violence – arises infrequently out of conflicts that escalate to arguments and then to violence, rather than a general pattern of control. It is likely the most common type of intimate partner violence. Women are "almost as likely" as men to be abusers, however, women are more likely to be physically injured, require police intervention and become fearful of their mates.
Intimate terrorism (IT) – pattern of ongoing control using emotional, physical and other forms of domestic violence. It is what was traditionally the definition of domestic violence depicted in the "Power and Control Wheel" which illustrates the different and inter-related forms of abuse.
Violent resistance (VR), or "self-defense" – violence perpetrated by victims against their abusive partners. It is generally used infrequently because, men are often better able to physically overpower women.
Common couple violence (CCV) – domestic violence "in which conflict occasionally gets ‘out of hand,’ leading usually to ‘minor’ forms of violence, and rarely escalates into serious or life-threatening forms of violence."
Mutual violent control (MVC) – rare type of intimate partner violence that occurs when both partners act in a violent manner, battling for control.
The incidence of abuse may result in the following:
Effects of domestic violence on children – dysfunctions in the physical, behavioral, emotional, and social areas of life which affect their well-being, child development, teen dating experiences, future domestic situations and mortality.
Mental illness – psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioral, cognitive and perceptual components.
Battered person syndrome – physical and psychological condition victims of domestic abuse, which may be manifested as a type of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), from an ongoing Cycle of abuse.
Self-harm – intentional, direct injuring of body tissue most often done without suicidal intentions.
Suicide, – act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse.Self-immolation – setting oneself on fire, often as a form of protest or for the purposes of martyrdom or suicide.
Evidence-based prosecution of domestic violence – prosecutors aggressively trying domestic violence cases, basing their cases on evidence rather than victim cooperation, resulting in higher conviction rates.
Injunction – equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions. In some cases, breaches of injunctions are considered serious criminal offenses that merit arrest and possible prison sentences.
Restraining order – requires a party to do, or to refrain from doing, certain acts. A party that refuses to comply with an order faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions. Breaches of restraining orders can be considered serious criminal offences that merit arrest and possible prison sentences. The term is most commonly used in reference to domestic violence, harassment, stalking or sexual assault.
Battered woman defense – a self-defense measure used in court that the person accused of an assault / murder was suffering from battered person syndrome.
Domestic violence court – specialized courts designed to improve victim safety and enhance defendant accountability, created in response to frustration among victim advocates, judges and attorneys who saw the same litigants cycling through the justice system repeatedly.
Religion and domestic violence
Religion and domestic violence
Christianity and domestic violence
Islam and domestic violence
Peaceful Families Project – Muslim organization
Domestic violence in Afghanistan
Family Response Unit – office of the Afghan National Police which deals with domestic violence, female and child victims of crime, and female suspects. The unit is staffed by policewomen trained by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
Domestic violence in Argentina
Domestic violence against women in Argentina
Domestic violence in Armenia
Domestic violence in Australia
Act as 1 Campaign – Domestic Violence and Family Violence Prevention campaign led by the Queensland Government.
Humbug (Aboriginal) – forms of begging and domestic violence in rural and remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, Australia.
Domestic violence in Bolivia
Domestic violence in Brazil
Human rights in Brazil and domestic violence
Lei Maria da Penha – Brazil's federal law against domestic violence
Domestic violence in Chile
Domestic violence in Colombia
Lissette Ochoa domestic violence case – one of the best known cases of spousal abuse in Colombia because of the couple's elite social status and for the brutality of the battering perpetrated on Lissette Ochoa by her husband Rafael Dangond.
Domestic violence in Ecuador
Domestic violence in Guyana
Domestic violence in India
Bell Bajao – campaign of the Breakthrough (human rights) organization
Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 – India federal law
Save Indian Family (India) – men's rights movement that asserts misuse of India's laws related to dowry harassment and domestic violence and provides moral and legal support for men and their families who have suffered or have been accused of intimate partner violence.
Domestic violence in Iran
Domestic violence in Malaysia
Women's Aid Organisation – non-governmental organization that fights for women's rights and specifically against violence against women.
Domestic violence in Norway
Domestic violence in Panama
Domestic violence in Paraguay
Domestic violence in Peru
Domestic violence in Russia
Domestic violence in Samoa
Domestic violence in South Korea
Korea Women's Hot Line – non-profit women's rights activist group, protecting women's rights from all kinds of violence and advancing women's social position as well as establishing gender equality in the spheres of family, work, and society.
Domestic violence in Spain
Shows red card to abuser – a public awareness campaign and symbol to say "no" to domestic violence
Domestic violence in Tajikistan
Domestic violence in Turkey
Domestic violence in the United Kingdom
Organizations
Broken Rainbow (organization) – deals with same sex domestic violence
Campaign Against Domestic Violence – organization with multi-pronged approach towards eliminating domestic violence
Mankind Initiative – domestic violence charity
Refuge (United Kingdom charity) – charity for female victims
Scottish Women's Aid – charity to prevent domestic violence against women and children
Women's Aid Federation of England – United Kingdom charity to prevent domestic violence against women and children
What's it going to take? – campaign of the WAFOE
Laws legal issues
Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 –
Domestic violence in the United States
Laws legal issues
Address confidentiality program – some states in the United States
Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban – addresses Gun violence in the United States
Violence Against Women Act – United States federal law
Family Violence Prevention and Services Act –
Models to reduce domestic violence
Duluth model (United States) –
Initiatives to prevent sexual violence (United States) –
Organizations
Futures Without Violence –
Loveisrespect, National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline –
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence –
National Domestic Violence Hotline –
National Network to End Domestic Violence –
Tahirih Justice Center –
International organisations and conventions
United Nations
United Nations Development Fund for Women
United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)
Islam and domestic violence
AHA Foundation – concerned with Muslim women's rights in western countries
Peaceful Families Project – (Muslim organization)
United Nations General Assembly
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
Council of Europe
Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence
Contemporary Family Therapy – journal with articles about "the latest developments in theory, research and practice pertaining to family therapy, with an emphasis on examining families within their broader socio-economic and ethnic matrices."
Family Process – non-profit journal with current articles about family system issues, focusing on research, policy, and applied practice.
Family Relations – international journal, published on behalf of the National Council on Family Relations, regarding family studies.
International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
Journal of Adult Protection
Journal of Child and Family Studies
Journal of Family Issues – peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes papers in the field of Family Studies.
Journal of Family Psychology
Journal of Family Violence
Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
Journal of Interpersonal Violence – publishes current "information on domestic violence, rape, child sexual abuse and other violent crimes."
Journal of Marital and Family Therapy
Journal of Marriage and the Family
Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society – academic journal covering a wide range of disciplines covering issues like gender, race, culture, class, sexuality, and/or nation.
Trauma, Violence, & Abuse – publishes original research for practitioners.
Violence Against Women – peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes papers in the field of Women’s Studies.
The Conspiracy of Silence
Defending Our Lives
Power and Control: Domestic Violence in America
Silent Voices
Sin by Silence
