Definition
Relationship violence is a pattern of coercive control that one person exercises to gain power over another. Abusers use physical and sexual violence, threats, emotional insults and economic deprivation as a way to dominate their partners and get their way. Relationships in which one partner uses assault and coercion can be found among married and unmarried heterosexuals, lesbians, gay males and transgendered. Relationship violence is a behavior that physically harms, arouses fear, prevents an individual from doing what she/he wishes of forces her/him to behave in ways she/he does not want to. (Schechter)
Violence is characterized by:
- Physical Abuse
- Economic Abuse
- Emotional Abuse
- Verbal Abuse
- Sexual Abuse
- Isolation
- Control
Facts about Relationship Violence
- Relationship violence is the single major cause of injury to women.
- Violence against women is present in every country, cutting across boundaries of class, culture, education, ethnicity, sexual orientation and age.
- Relationship violence among gay and lesbian couples occurs at the same statistical frequency as in heterosexual relationships.
(from Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence)
Statistics
- In 2001, women accounted for 85 percent of the victims of intimate partner violence and men accounted for approximately 15 percent of the victims.
- Nearly 25% of American women report being raped and/or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, cohabitating partner, or date at some time in their life.
- Approximately 1 in 5 female high school students reports being physically and/or sexually abused by a partner.
- As many as 95% of all domestic violence perpetrators are male.
- In Arizona, a woman is murdered by her husband or boyfriend every four days. In 2004, there were 80 domestic violence related homicides in Arizona.
- Pregnant and recently pregnant women are more likely to be victims of homicide than to die of any other cause, and evidence exists that a significant proportion of all female homicide victims are killed by their intimate partners.
(from Victim/Witness Services for Coconino County)
NAU Statistics
- In 2005, 14.2% female and 10.9% male students reported being victims in a verbally abusive relationship during that year.
- 3% female and 2% males reported being in a physically abusive relationship during that year.
(from 2005 NAU Health and Wellness Survey)
For Warning Signs of Perpetrators go to page 2.
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