The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to domestic violence:

Domestic violence – pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship, such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation. It is also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence (IPV).

What type of thing is domestic violence?

Domestic violence can be described as all of the following:

Violence – use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishesViolence., Merriam-Webster Dictionary Retrieved January 8, 2009.Violence., Oxford English Dictionary Retrieved January 8, 2009.Violence. , American Heritage Dictionary, Violence, Retrieved January 8, 2009. and may include some combination of verbal, emotional, economic, physical and sexual abuse. Coercive Control – Braiker identified the following ways that manipulators control their victims:Braiker, Harriet B. (2004) Who's Pulling Your Strings? How to Break The Cycle of Manipulation . Positive reinforcement: praise, superficial charm, superficial sympathy (crocodile tears), excessive apologizing; money, approval, gifts; attention, facial expressions such as a forced laugh or smile; public recognition. Negative reinforcement: removing one from a negative situation as a reward. For example: "You won't have to walk home if you allow me to do this to you." Intermittent or partial reinforcement: partial or intermittent negative reinforcement can create an effective climate of fear and doubt. Partial or intermittent positive reinforcement can encourage the victim to persist. Punishment: berating, yelling, refusing to speak to partner, intimidation, threats, swearing, emotional blackmail, the guilt trap, sulking, crying, and playing the victim. Traumatic one-trial learning: verbal abuse, explosive anger, or other intimidating behavior to establish dominance or superiority; even one incident of such behavior can condition or train victims to avoid upsetting, confronting or contradicting the manipulator. Oppression – exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner.Oppression. Merriam Webster Online. It can also be defined as an act or instance of oppressing, the state of being oppressed, and the feeling of being heavily burdened, mentally or physically, by troubles, adverse conditions, and anxiety. Abusers usually humiliate and brainwash the victim verbally, in which the victims may find themselves devalued with emotional distress. The intention is to exploit and dominate in depriving the victim of their most basic rights and needs. Extreme criticism constantly - This is one of the most serious emotional abuse issues. Abusers will use many brainwashing techniques to make the victims question themselves upon their guilt – this may lead to the victims suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder. Abusers often like to criticise the victims either directly or indirectly. The intention of such an act is to make the victim lose their confidence and doubt their abilities so that they look to their abuser to give them the validation they need. Abusers may also leave the victims isolated from their family and friends and many of them resulted in mental distress like feeling ashamed, terrified and hurt.

Prevalence Epidemiology of domestic violence – Domestic violence occurs across the world, in various cultures, and affects people across society, irrespective of economic status or gender.

Forms

The following table includes the forms of violence typically defined as part of Intimate partner violence, which is domestic violence in an intimate relationship by one's spouse or lover. It also includes a column for other family members or partners.

The rate of occurrence varies considerably based upon one's country, socio-economic class, culture, religion, family history and other factors.

Form of Violence Intimate Partners / Domestic Violence Other family members or partners Acid throwing – violent assault by throwing acid onto the body of a person "with the intention of injuring or disfiguring out of jealousy or revenge."Karmakar, R.N. (2003). Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. Academic Publishers. .Vij, Krishan. (2003) Textbook of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology: Principles and Practice, 5th Edition. Elsevier India. p. 462. . Birth control sabotage – efforts to manipulate another person's use of birth control or to undermine efforts to prevent an unwanted pregnancy. Examples include replacing birth control pills with fakes, puncturing condoms and diaphragms, or threats and violence to prevent an individual's attempted use of birth control. Breast ironing – pounding and massaging of a pubescent girl's breasts using heated objects in an attempt to make them stop developing or disappear.Sa'ah, Randy Joe. Cameroon girls battle 'breast ironing' BBC News. June 23, 2006. Retrieved January 2, 2008.Gidley, Ruth; Rowling, Megan. Millions of Cameroon girls suffer "breast ironing". AlertNet, Reuters July 7, 2006. Reproduced at the Child Rights Information Network. Retrieved April 2, 2011. Bride burning – form of domestic violence for unresolved dowry issues resulting in death. Bride-buying – illegal industry or trade of "purchasing a bride" to become property that can be resold or repurchased for reselling.Marshall, Samantha, Joanne Lee-Young, and Matt Forney, Vietnamese Women Are Kidnapped and Later Sold in China as Brides. The Wall Street Journal. August 3, 1999.Rose, Winifred Hodge. The Purchase of a Bride: Bargain, Gift, Hamingja, Frigga's Web. Dating abuse – pattern of abusive behavior exhibited by one or both partners in a dating relationship. Domestic violence and pregnancy – abusive behavior towards a pregnant woman that whether physical, verbal or emotional, produces many adverse physical and psychological effects for the mother and fetus. Dowry death – deaths of young women who are murdered or driven to suicide by continuous harassment and torture by husbands and in-laws in an effort to extort an increased dowry. Economic abuse – form of abuse when one intimate partner has control over the other partner's access to economic resources, which diminishes the victim's earning capacity and forces financial reliance on the perpetrator.Sanders, Cynthia. Organizing for Economic Empowerment of Battered Women: Women's Savings Accounts. Center for Social Development, George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University. Retrieved September 19, 2011. Elder abuse – "a single, or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person."Action on Elder Abuse. Retrieved October 12, 2007. Female genital mutilation – the mutilation of the exterior vulvar structures of girls and women. Foot binding – binding the feet of young girls painfully tight to prevent further growth. Honor killing – homicide of a member of a family or social group by other members, due to the belief of the perpetrators that the victim has brought dishonor upon the family or community. Honor killings are directed mostly against women and girls, but have been extended to men. Also spelled "honour killing" (American and British spelling differences). Marital rape – non-consensual sex in which the perpetrator is the victim's spouse, and as such, is a form of domestic violence, and sexual abuse. Although repudiated by international conventions and increasingly criminalized, in many countries, spousal rape either remains legal, or is illegal but widely tolerated and accepted as a husband's prerogative. Also known as "spousal rape". Murder of pregnant women – type of homicide often resulting from domestic violence by a spouse or intimate partner violence (IPV).Campbell, JC, Glass, N, Sharps, PW, Laughon, K, and Bloom, T (2007) Intimate Partner Homicide: Review and Implications of Research and Policy. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. (8), 246–269. Parental abuse by children – parents subject to levels of childhood aggression in excess of normal childhood aggressive outbursts, typically in the form of verbal or physical abuse. Parental abuse of children – physical or psychological/emotional mistreatment of children. It is often distinguished from domestic violence as its own form of violence. Psychological abuse – form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another to behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Such abuse is often associated with situations of power imbalance, such as abusive relationships, bullying, child abuse and workplace bullying.Maiuro, Roland D.; O'Leary, K. Daniel. (2000). Psychological Abuse in Violent Domestic Relations. New York: Springer Publishing Company. p. 197. .Child Sexual Abuse. National Clearinghouse on Family Violence, Health Canada. 1997. Retrieved November 21, 2011. Psychological abuse is also referred to as "emotional abuse" or "mental abuse". Physical abuse – abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.Haugan, Grethemor Skagseth; Nøttestad, Jim Aage.Norway : Treatment Program For Men Who Batter Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Trondheim, Norway.Giardino, Angelo P.; Giardino, Eileen R. Child Abuse & Neglect: Physical Abuse December 12, 2008. eMedicine. WebMD. Sati – religious funeral practice among some Indian communities in which a recently widowed woman either voluntarily or by use of force and coercion would have immolated herself on her husband's funeral pyre.Sati. SOS Sexisme. Retrieved July 26, 2010. Sexual violence – any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person's sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work.World report on violence and health. Geneva: World Health Organization. 2002. p. 149. Spiritual abuse – serious form of abuse which occurs when a person in religious authority or a person with a unique spiritual practice misleads and maltreats another person in the name of God or church or in the mystery of any spiritual concept. Stalking – unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet. Teen dating violence – physical, sexual, or psychological / emotional violence within a dating relationship."Teen dating violence" Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Retrieved August 13, 2011. Verbal abuse – often used to control the victim and can lead to significant detriment to one's self-esteem, emotional well-being, and physical state.

Victims

Domestic violence affects people across society, irrespective of age, gender, sexual orientation, culture, religion or socio-economic status. Stop Abuse For Everyone (SAFE), a United States domestic violence organization, advocates for an "inclusive" model of domestic violence, focusing on groups that are "lacking in services", such as abused men, gay, lesbian, intersex, and transgender victims, and the elderly.Main page Stop Abuse For Everyone. 2010. Retrieved November 22, 2011.

Women Some forms of domestic violence are unique to women victims: Bride-buying Domestic violence and pregnancy Domestic violence in lesbian relationships Misogyny, the hate and contempt of women and girls

Men Male victims of domestic abuse: Domestic violence against men Misandry, the hate and contempt of men and boys