What is Domestic Violence?
You may have heard the catchy slogan “Violence Against Women, Australia Says No” but what are we saying No to really?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCCt-Bo07oc
It’s more than what you see in the ad, especially for young women.
Do you know
- a girl who has to ask her boyfriend’s permission to do everything?
- The boyfriend that calls 100 times a day to see where she is or how long she will be?
- The boyfriend that is nice to your face, but in front of his friends calls you names, like bitch or slut?
- A girl whose boyfriend pushes her when he is angry or jealous?
That’s domestic violence.
Domestic Violence is:
Violent, abusive or intimidating behaviour carried out by one partner against a partner or ex- partner to control that person. Domestic violence causes fear, physical and/or harm to the way we think about ourselves. It is most often violent, abusive or intimidating behaviour by a man against a woman. If domestic violence occurs in a family with people under the age of sixteen it can be considered child abuse.
(Adapted from) NSW Department of Health, 2003
Violence against women is NOT just hitting someone, although that is violence too. It can be a number of things, it can be physical, emotional, verbal, stalking, financial, social or sexual violence.
You can test you knowledge on violence against women by here on our quizzes page.
There are two important things you MUST know about violence against women:
- It is NEVER your fault
- There is NO excuse for violence
These two things are important to remember not only for yourself but if you hear the stories of other people. People could think of a girl as the one that nags her boyfriend or the girl that only goes out with ‘the bad boy’. That’s no excuse. No one asks for violence. No one deserves to feel afraid or scared of their boyfriend or partner. That’s not love. What is love is relationships where you feel safe, happy and healthy!
Examples of different types of violence against women:
Physical: Hitting, pushing, slapping, throwing objects such as furniture or books
Emotional/ psychological: Telling you that no one likes you, telling you how bad you are, putting you down, threatening to commit suicide if you leave
Social: Not letting you go out with friends, stopping you from spending time in your usual group at school, deleting friends on Facebook or Bebo
Verbal: calling you names, swearing at you, spreading rumours about you
Sexual: Forcing you to have sex, touching you when you don’t want it, taking photos of you without your permission
Stalking/ harassment: Following you, turning up at your school or work, calling or txting you heaps of times in a day