what is it?

are you? | dating violence | warning signs

Relationship violence is the verbal, physical, and/or sexual abuse of one partner by the other in a relationship, you do not have to be married or living together to be a victim of relationship violence. Sometimes it is difficult to know when you are being abused, but it is usually thought of as any behavior by one partner intended to intimidate or control the other. Although verbal and emotional abuse may not seem as serious as physical violence, the results can be devastating. This type of violence can damage a person’s sense of worth or self-esteem.

While the victim may feel that they have provoked their partner, no one deserves to be abused; the responsibility for the violence resides with the abuser. People often assume that a person in a violent, abusive relationship could easily leave if they so chose. However, the reasons for remaining in a violent relationship are complex and usually multi-determined, involving emotional and financial issues.

It is more common to hear about violence in male-female relationships, where the male is the abusive or violent one. That is not the only way it happens. There are also situations where the female partner is abusive to the male, either verbally or, at times, physically. Additionally, in same-sex relationships, men are sometimes abusive to other men and women are abusive to other women. In short, we are talking about an Equal Opportunity Problem.