Domestic Violence Between Partners

What is domestic violence? Is it strictly violence between two partners? Domestic violence has many definitions, however they all share a common point. Domestic violence is violence or a pattern of behaviors by one partner to keep power over another partner in an intimate relationship (“Abuse Defined”). It can also be defined as violence between partners, either married or cohabiting, between siblings, a parent and child, and boyfriend and girlfriend. Domestic violence does not discriminate - anyone of any race, age, gender, sexual orientation, or even religion can become a victim of perpetrator of domestic violence. The kind of behaviors one might face include inducing physical harm, arousing fear, preventing a partner from doing what they

And on average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner – this equates to more than ten million men and women per year” ("NCADV | National Coalition Against Domestic Violence"). The NCADV also mentions

“one in three women and one in four men have been victims of some from of physical violence by an intimate partner within their lifetime; one in four women and one in seven men have been victims of severe physical violence; and one in seven women and one in eighteen men have been stalked by their intimate partner” ("NCADV | National Coalition Against Domestic

“In recent years, researchers have discussed whether IPV against women is [considered] a unique type of violence or whether theories or general aggression and violence could explain IPV against women” (Herrero, Torres, Rodríguez, & Juarros-Basterretxea, 2017). A vital point of the research conducted was exploring the influence of traditional gender roles and how the partner’s general violence may have on the explanation of IPV against women (Herrero, Torres, Rodríguez, & Juarros-Basterretxea, 2017). The aim of the study conducted by Herrero, Torres, Rodriguez, and Juarros-Basterretxea was to “examine the associations among partners’ traditional roles, partners’ level of general violence, and IPV against women using a probabilistic sample of women from all the 28-member states of the European Union” (Herrero, Torres, Rodríguez, & Juarros-Basterretxea, 2017). The study asked if the women felt that had an equal say with things regarding the use of the household income as well as asking whether the interviewee’s partner has ever been physically violent to anyone outside the family. Both responses were positive, with the first response say yes, they felt there was an equal say and the second response was a no, their partner has not been violent to anyone outside the family. The study itself had many strengths, but also exhibited “potential limitations. First, information on partners’ background relied on women’s reports and thus may have been affected by