Autumn brings more than pumpkin spice and cooler weather—it also brings a time of reflection and support because October is National Domestic Violence Awareness & Prevention Month.
Reflection
Domestic violence (DV) or “intimate partner violence” (IPV) can be defined and described in different ways. For instance, the Domestic Violence Awareness Project from the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence states on its website that “Domestic violence is best understood as a pattern of abusive behaviors–including physical, sexual, and psychological attacks as well as economic coercion–used by one intimate partner against another (adult or adolescent) to gain, maintain, or regain power and control in the relationship.”
There are six types of DV identified on the website for the U.S. Department of Justice:
Physical Abuse: Hitting, slapping, shoving, grabbing, pinching, biting, hair pulling, etc. are types of physical abuse. This type of abuse also includes denying a partner medical care or forcing alcohol and/or drug use upon him or her.
Sexual Abuse: Coercing or attempting to coerce any sexual contact or behavior without consent. Sexual abuse includes, but is certainly not limited to, marital rape, attacks on sexual parts of the body, forcing sex after physical violence has occurred, or treating one in a sexually demeaning manner.
Emotional Abuse: Undermining an individual’s sense of self-worth and/or self-esteem is abusive. This may include, but is not limited to constant criticism, diminishing one's abilities, name-calling, or damaging one's relationship with his or her children.
Economic Abuse: Controlling or restraining a person’s ability to acquire, use, or maintain economic resources to which they are entitled. This includes using coercion, fraud, or manipulation to restrict a person’s access to money, assets, credit, or financial information; unfairly using a person’s personal economic resources, including money, assets, and credit, or exerting undue influence over a person’s financial and economic behavior or decisions, including forcing default on joint or other financial obligations, exploiting powers of attorney, guardianship, or conservatorship, or failing or neglecting to act in the best interests of a person to whom one has a fiduciary duty.
Psychological Abuse: Elements of psychological abuse include—but are not limited to—causing fear by intimidation; threatening physical harm to self, partner, children, or partner's family or friends; destruction of pets and property; and forcing isolation from family, friends, or school and/or work.
Technological Abuse: An act or pattern of behavior that is intended to harm, threaten, control, stalk, harass, impersonate, exploit, extort, or monitor another person that occurs using any form of technology, including but not limited to: internet enabled devices, online spaces and platforms, computers, mobile devices, cameras and imaging programs, apps, location tracking devices, or communication technologies, or any other emerging technologies.
According to the most recent National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) from the CDC, “About 1 in 4 women and nearly 1 in 10 men have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime and reported some form of IPV-related impact.” In addition, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence reports that “40.1% of Texas women and 34.9% of Texas men experience intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner rape and/or intimate partner stalking in their lifetimes.”
The CDC reports the following as consequences of IPV:
Physical injuries
Homicide
Chronic medical conditions
Mental health issues, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Societal costs, including economic costs associated with medical services for IPV-related injuries, lost productivity from paid work, criminal justice and more.
Support
Support for DV/IPV survivors can take on many forms, as identified in the graphic to the left from the CDC. This blog post highlights resources available from one local organization, Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse (AVDA).
“AVDA is a nonprofit organization that has served the Houston community for 40 years,” and it currently serves eight Texas counties around the Houston area. AVDA offers three main types of help to survivors:
Legal Aid: AVDA attorney/paralegal teams can provide free or low-cost “legal representation in family law matters to victims of domestic violence in Austin, Grimes, Harris, Fort Bend, Waller and Washington counties” for eligible people. Phones are answered 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday or you may request a call-back through the online request for services. For Harris County, call (713) 224-9911. For phone numbers for offices in other counties, please visit https://avda.org/.
Counseling: AVDA offers “free, confidential counseling services for adult survivors and their adolescent children (12 and older), . . . support groups (English and Spanish), safety planning, emergency financial support, and help with education or training.” In addition, AVDA offers domestic violence victim support groups; contact AVDA at (713) 224-9911 to ask about these groups.
Compilations of resources for various issues, including shelter, food, employment assistance, housing assistance, and more.
AVDA also sponsors a Battering Intervention and Prevention Program (BIPP), which “provides educational services to men and women who have been violent, abusive, and/or controlling in their intimate partner and/or family relationships.” This program is available in both English & Spanish, and it accepts self-referrals and referrals from community partners.
Additional Resources
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
Research & Evidence: Information on a variety of topics (see image below)
VAWnet: an online library focused on violence against women and other forms of gender-based violence
Topical resources available on the “Research & Evidence” webpage of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence.