Your D​esi Helpline

    Domestic violence (also called intimate partner violence (IPV), domestic abuse or relationship abuse) is a pattern of behaviors used by one partner to maintain power and control over another partner in an intimate or marital relationship. It is considered a crime in the US.

     Domestic violence does not discriminate. Anyone of any race, age, sexual orientation, religion or gender can be a victim – or perpetrator – of domestic violence. It can happen to people who are married, living together or who are dating. It affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels. Although men and people of all genders can experience abuse at the hands of their abuser, domestic violence , especially in the South Asian community is inflicted on women primarily by their husbands or partners as well as in-law family members. Domestic violence has been primarily conceptualized as violence against women both in research and policy.

     One out of every four women in the South Asian community is a victim of domestic violence perpetrated by her husband. This is one of the most serious problems being faced in our community. There are some cultural factors and practices in our community that contribute to increased occurrence and risk of domestic violence. Some of them include distinct and sometimes strict gender roles, conditions of marriage, dowry, structure of family, family over self values, lack of financial independence for women, patriarchy, and considering women as second class citizens.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF ABUSE:

     Abuse can be inflicted by perpetrators in both obvious and subtle ways. In fact, much of the abuse starts as subtle and gets worse without interventions. One of the definitions of abuse is: “treating a person with cruelty or violence especially repeatedly and regularly.” Such abuse creates psychological and emotional wounds that may last a lifetime if left unidentified or untreated. Abuse can lead to a person developing trauma across generations. Some of the effects of abuse include sleep disruptions, mood changes, dreadful feelings, headaches, tension in muscles, confusion, and even loss of self-esteem.

Types of domestic violence include: 

1. Physical Abuse perpetrated against the victim by pushing, shoving, punching, kicking, slapping, pulling hair, biting, or even strangling/choking.
2.  Emotional Abuse consists of the perpetrator calling the victim bad names, insults, derogatory terms, acting out of jealousy, manipulating, humiliating and degrading a person, and threatening. 
3. Sexual Abuse occurs when the abuser forces the victim to have sex, or compelling a person to dress more sexually than they wish to or forcing them to watch pornographic images/videos or forcing them to flirt with their male friends or engage in any sexual or inappropriate touching without consent. 
4. Economic or Financial Abuse looks like abusers denying access to victims of their bank accounts or credit cards or preventing the victims from going to a job or limiting access to health insurance or legally joint assets.

*Note that these are only a few examples. There are many more forms of DV.