Intimate partner violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior such as emotional or financial abuse. It is part of a systematic pattern of power and control committed by one intimate partner against another.
Domestic Violence is not a crime of passion, but escalating and predictable over time.
Patterns of controlling behavior start as early as middle school and are preventable.
-Only 33% of teens in abusive relationships ever tell anyone.
-1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced some form of violence by an intimate partner.
-Research shows that victims try to leave an average of nine times before they are finally able to escape. If the victim does escape and survive, most face many years of therapy to recover emotionally from the trauma they’ve suffered.
-Demands access to your phone and social media
-Isolates you from friends and family
-Uses jealously to justify behavior
-Follows you or shows up unexpectedly at your dorm, class or job.
-Begins to criticize you or calls you names.
-Threatens to hurt you or hurt themselves.
-Not taking “no” for an answer
-Intense attention in the beginning
-Never-ending compliments
-Demanding commitment early on
-Disrespecting boundaries
-Mirroring your personality
-Showered with affection, gifts, and promises for the future
“Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.”