Cop arresting a man for domestic violence and female victim in the background

Definition of Domestic Violence vs Domestic Abuse: Know the Difference

rj frometa Wednesday, November 27, 2019 Other Content Leave a comment

Every minute, 20 people face abuse from a domestic partner or person close to them.

The definition of domestic violence is quite complicated. There are many definitions in the law on both domestic violence and domestic abuse, especially where it relates to the protection of spouses, children, and domestic partners.

Domestic abuse and domestic violence sound very similar, but are they? Let’s look into the definitions to see what they reveal.

Domestic Abuse

At its basic level, abuse is when a person’s conduct or words are meant to hurt the other person. The abuse itself isn’t defined as domestic violence, but there is the potential for it to turn that way. A sequence of abusive behaviors can change the abuse to violence.

Domestic abuse is a pattern of forceful, dominating, or violent conduct that is life-threatening. It can take many forms, such as emotional, physical, economic, stalking, harassment, and sexual.

Traits of Domestic Abuse

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse does not always leave signs or cause lasting damage. Here are a few of the common types of physical abuse:

Scratching, biting, clutching, or spitting; pushing or shoving
Hitting and punching, throwing objects to hurt or scare you
Ruining belongings or cherished objects
Hurting or threatening to hurt your children or pets
Disturbing your sleeping routines to make you feel tired
Burning, choking, assaulting, or threatening to attack with a weapon
Any threats or attempts to kill you

Emotional Abuse

When your partner seeks to control you or prevent you from doing something, they will often use emotional abuse. Some types of emotional abuse include:

Calling derogatory names, mocking, bullying, and making embarrassing remarks or movements
Screaming in your face or standing in a threatening way
Manipulating your kids
Instructing you what to do or where you can and cannot go
Doesn’t value what you say
Interrupts, changes topics, doesn’t listen, or responds and twists your words
Puts you down in front of other people
Says terrible things about your family and friends
Makes it difficult or prevents you from visiting friends or relatives
Cheating or being overly possessive
Transfers responsibility for abusive behavior by blaming others or saying you caused it
Controlling your phone calls, texts, car, and computer use

Financial Abuse

Financial abuse happens when the victim is utterly dependent financially and no power or say in the relationship. Signs of this are:

Not allowing the victim to work or attend school
Subverting employment opportunities by injuring the victim with a visible injury before an important meeting or work event
Stalking or harassing the victim at the workplace, which puts their employment at risk
Denying the use of a vehicle or disabling the vehicle so that the victim cannot get to their job
Destroying educational opportunities by damaging class assignments
Withholding money or not giving an allowance
Access to bank accounts is withheld
Hiding family assets
Makes a large amount of debt in the victim’s name

Other forms of abuse include stalking and harassment and sexual abuse.

What is the Definition of Domestic Violence

Domestic violence often begins with abusive behavior patterns that escalate over time to violence. Key tendencies include:

A bad or unpredictable temper
Hurts or threatens to injure or kill you
Threaten to take your children or hurt them
Threaten to kill themself if you leave them
Force sexual relations on you
Destroy your possessions

The US Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women defines domestic violence as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship. One partner uses this behavior to gain or maintain control over another domestic partner.

Domestic violence laws have come a long way. If you feel you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship or have experienced domestic violence, there is help available. Further, there are Michigan statutory laws. According to this law, the Michigan age of consent is 16. If an adult is found to be involved in any sexual activity with a minor (below 16), he/she will be charged for violating the law.

What is the Difference Between Violence and Abuse?

If you feel confused about this point, you are not alone. Understanding the line that divides the cross over between these two related issues is crucial. Sometimes violence is violence, and at others, it is abuse.

Violent expressions are often not only domestic violence but abuse. The law states that to commit domestic violence, you must knowingly and with intent:

cause injury to a protected person
threaten to injure a person
engage in physical contact that the other person finds insulting, provocative, or threatening.

The most crucial point is the intent and understanding. The person must know that they are causing harm physically. This understanding marks the difference between domestic violence and an accident.

Abuse, on the other hand, is a pattern of behaviors that can include domestic violence.

Who Are the Victims?

Domestic violence victims include domestic partners, spouses, parents, children, and pets. These acts are often against women but can be against others in a family as well.

1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men experience domestic violence or other forms of abuse. There are penalties against those who commit these forms of violence and abuse.

In the US, 95% of victims are women. Often it is a confusing issue because people don’t understand the issue as the terms describe different things. Legally, however, the terms cover all acts between people who cohabitate currently or have in the past, and it includes all family members as well as dating partners or domestic partners.

Final Thoughts

The purpose of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and other laws like it is to help victims, and, hopefully, if followed, we can give justice to them and they can reclaim their lives.

Definition of Domestic Violence vs Domestic Abuse: Know the Difference

Related Articles

Every minute, 20 people face abuse from a domestic partner or person close to them.

The definition of domestic violence is quite complicated. There are many definitions in the law on both domestic violence and domestic abuse, especially where it relates to the protection of spouses, children, and domestic partners.

Domestic abuse and domestic violence sound very similar, but are they? Let’s look into the definitions to see what they reveal.

Domestic Abuse

At its basic level, abuse is when a person’s conduct or words are meant to hurt the other person. The abuse itself isn’t defined as domestic violence, but there is the potential for it to turn that way. A sequence of abusive behaviors can change the abuse to violence.

Domestic abuse is a pattern of forceful, dominating, or violent conduct that is life-threatening. It can take many forms, such as emotional, physical, economic, stalking, harassment, and sexual.

Traits of Domestic Abuse

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse does not always leave signs or cause lasting damage. Here are a few of the common types of physical abuse:

Scratching, biting, clutching, or spitting; pushing or shoving

Hitting and punching, throwing objects to hurt or scare you

Ruining belongings or cherished objects

Hurting or threatening to hurt your children or pets

Disturbing your sleeping routines to make you feel tired

Burning, choking, assaulting, or threatening to attack with a weapon

Any threats or attempts to kill you

Emotional Abuse

When your partner seeks to control you or prevent you from doing something, they will often use emotional abuse. Some types of emotional abuse include:

Calling derogatory names, mocking, bullying, and making embarrassing remarks or movements

Screaming in your face or standing in a threatening way

Manipulating your kids

Instructing you what to do or where you can and cannot go

Doesn’t value what you say

Interrupts, changes topics, doesn’t listen, or responds and twists your words

Puts you down in front of other people

Says terrible things about your family and friends

Makes it difficult or prevents you from visiting friends or relatives

Cheating or being overly possessive

Transfers responsibility for abusive behavior by blaming others or saying you caused it

Controlling your phone calls, texts, car, and computer use

Financial Abuse

Financial abuse happens when the victim is utterly dependent financially and no power or say in the relationship. Signs of this are:

Not allowing the victim to work or attend school

Subverting employment opportunities by injuring the victim with a visible injury before an important meeting or work event

Stalking or harassing the victim at the workplace, which puts their employment at risk

Denying the use of a vehicle or disabling the vehicle so that the victim cannot get to their job

Destroying educational opportunities by damaging class assignments

Withholding money or not giving an allowance

Access to bank accounts is withheld

Hiding family assets

Makes a large amount of debt in the victim’s name

Other forms of abuse include stalking and harassment and sexual abuse.

What is the Definition of Domestic Violence

Domestic violence often begins with abusive behavior patterns that escalate over time to violence. Key tendencies include: