{"id":263,"date":"2020-05-04T10:27:27","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T14:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/westmichiganregional.com\/?p=263"},"modified":"2020-11-03T10:06:31","modified_gmt":"2020-11-03T15:06:31","slug":"domestic-violence-and-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westmichiganregional.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/04\/domestic-violence-and-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Domestic Violence and Abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Man's<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is domestic violence and abuse?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When people think of domestic abuse, they often focus on domestic violence. But domestic abuse includes any attempt by one person in an intimate relationship or marriage to dominate and control the other. Domestic violence and abuse are used for one purpose and one purpose only: to gain and maintain total control over you. An abuser doesn\u2019t \u201cplay fair.\u201d An abuser uses fear, guilt, shame, and intimidation to wear you down and keep you under their thumb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Domestic violence and abuse can happen to anyone;<\/a> it does not discriminate. Abuse happens within heterosexual relationships and in same-sex partnerships. It occurs within all age ranges, ethnic backgrounds, and economic levels. And while women are more often victimized,\u00a0men also experience abuse<\/a>\u2014especially verbal and emotional. The bottom line is that abusive behavior is never acceptable, whether from a man, woman, teenager, or an older adult. You deserve to feel valued, respected, and safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Domestic abuse often escalates from threats<\/a> and verbal assault to violence. And while physical injury may pose the most obvious danger, the emotional and psychological consequences of domestic abuse are also severe. Emotionally abusive relationships can destroy your self-worth, lead to anxiety and depression, and make you feel helpless and alone. No one should have to endure this kind of pain\u2014and your first step to breaking free is recognizing that your relationship is abusive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Signs of an abusive relationship<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are many signs of an abusive relationship, and a fear of your partner is the most telling. If you feel like you have to walk on eggshells around them\u2014constantly watching what you say and do in order to avoid a blow-up\u2014chances are your relationship is unhealthy and abusive. Other signs include a partner who belittles you or tries to control you, and feelings of self-loathing, helplessness, and desperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To determine whether your relationship is abusive, answer the questions below. The more \u201cyes\u201d answers, the more likely it is that you\u2019re in an abusive relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abusive behavior is a choice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Despite what many people believe, domestic violence and abuse does not take place because of an abuser loses control over their behavior. In fact, abusive behavior and violence is a deliberate choice to gain control. Perpetrators use a variety of tactics to manipulate you and exert their power, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dominance<\/strong> \u2013 Abusive individuals need to feel in charge of the relationship. They may make decisions for you and the family, tell you what to do, and expect you to obey without question. Your abuser may treat you like a servant, child, or even as their possession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humiliation<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 An abuser will do everything they can to lower your self-esteem<\/a> or make you feel defective in some way. After all, if you believe you\u2019re worthless and that no one else will want you, you\u2019re less likely to leave. Insults, name-calling, shaming, and public put-downs are all weapons of abuse designed to erode your self-worth and make you feel powerless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isolation<\/strong> \u2013 In order to increase your dependence on them, an abusive partner will cut you off from the outside world. They may keep you from seeing family or friends, or even prevent you from going to work or school. You may have to ask permission to do anything, go anywhere, or see anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Threats<\/strong> \u2013 Abusers commonly use threats to keep their partners from leaving or scare them into dropping charges. Your abuser may threaten to hurt or kill you, your children, other family members, or even pets. They may also threaten to commit suicide, file false charges against you, or report you to child services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intimidation<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Your abuser may use a variety of intimidation tactics designed to scare you into submission. Such tactics include making threatening looks or gestures<\/a>, smashing things in front of you, destroying property, hurting your pets, or putting weapons on display. The message behind these actions is that violent violent consequences will follow if you don\u2019t obey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denial and blame<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Abusers are adept at making excuses for the inexcusable. They may blame their abusive and violent behavior on a bad childhood, a bad day, or even on you and the kids, the victims of their abuse. They may minimize the abuse or deny that it occurred. Often, they will shift the responsibility on to you: somehow, their violent and abusive behavior is your fault.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is domestic violence and abuse? When people think of domestic abuse, they often focus on domestic violence. But domestic abuse includes any attempt by one person in an intimate… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westmichiganregional.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westmichiganregional.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westmichiganregional.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westmichiganregional.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westmichiganregional.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/westmichiganregional.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264,"href":"https:\/\/westmichiganregional.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263\/revisions\/264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westmichiganregional.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westmichiganregional.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westmichiganregional.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}