Other Types of Domestic Violence

Whenever we see reports of people in a relationship getting physically abused by their partners, we immediately chalk it up to domestic violence.

While physical abuse does fall under domestic violence, it is just one of its many types. Physical abuse is also not limited to punching, slapping, kicking, hair pulling, biting, and other kinds of unwanted physical contact. Keeping them from getting access to food, for instance, is physical abuse. So is withholding other physical needs such as money, transport, and sleep.

Some people might also think that when people are living together, whether married or not, there is no such thing as unwanted sexual contact. That is the farthest thing from the truth, as sexual abuse happens even in marriages, and it’s another form of domestic violence. Aside from marital rape, it’s also domestic violence when a woman is being forced to have sex with other people. Forcing a woman to have an abortion can also be considered as domestic violence.

Did you know that matters of religion and spirituality can also give rise to cases of domestic violence? When a person is being stopped by his or her partner from practicing his or her religious beliefs, the victim has a case for domestic violence. The same goes when a person is being ridiculed by his or her partner for his or her own religious beliefs.

If a person gets accused of any of the above, he or she will need the services of a domestic violence lawyer to come up with a good defense in court.

The term “physical abuse” may be most closely-associated with domestic violence, but there many other types of abuse that fall under that category. To find out more about other types of domestic violence, check out the infographic below: