 The following information provides a general look at domestic violence, coming from a variety of resources. Due to the fact that 95% of the victims of domestic violence are women, victims will be referred to as "she/her." This is not at all an assumption that men are not victims of domestic violence, because they clearly are and, unfortunately, are exposed to very few resources.
Domestic Violence is when spouses, intimate partners, or dates use physical violence, threats, emotional abuse, harassment, and/or stalking to control the behavior of their partners. Domestic Violence is usually not a single event and often becomes more severe and frequent over time.
Very few people identify themselves as abusers or victims. They may remain silent about the issue because of the havoc that domestic violence has created in their family or workplace. Victims may be silent because of embarrassment or shame, or for fear that their batterers will hurt them if they tell other people about the violence. Abusers may minimize their actions or blame the victims for provoking the violence. Both victims and abusers may characterize their experience as family quarrels that got out of control
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