The necessary steps required to resolve a domestic violence problem are determining that you are a victim and speaking up to make the abuse stop. If you’re a victim, however, this is a lot more difficult to do than one might think. It takes great courage and a strong sense of empowerment to stand up against an abuser.
Let’s focus on the first part of getting past your domestic violence issue. Recognizing that you have a problem isn’t always easy. There are eight kinds of domestic violence you’ll want to review to determine if you’re being victimized.
- Physical abuse: This includes any kind of hitting, pushing, striking, hair pulling, throwing of objects at the person and similar physical actions.
- Threats of physical abuse: The threat of hurting someone constitutes the crime of assault. Even if someone doesn’t touch you but instead threatens to hurt you, it constitutes violence.
- Stalking: If someone is following you, calling you and making you feel uncomfortable with the activity, even after you’ve asked the person to stop, it could be stalking.
- Cyberstalking: This is the digital form of stalking which can happen on social media accounts, email and other areas of the internet.
- Sexual abuse: This involves unwanted sexual contact often instituted by force, coercion or through the threat of violence.
- Emotional abuse: Name calling and belittling comments are examples of this form of abuse.
- Economic abuse: The purposeful withholding of money in order to control someone is a form of domestic violence.
- Psychological abuse: Any form of psychological manipulation or an attempt to make someone feel small and disempowered, such as gaslighting, could be considered domestic violence.
If you’ve been victimized by the above kinds of domestic violence, you will need to speak up to make it stop. Fortunately, Nebraska law is on your side. As long as you take the appropriate steps to stop domestic violence, you can protect yourself and your children from future violence.
Source: Findlaw, “What is domestic violence?,” accessed Feb. 09, 2018