Learn About Intimate Partner Violence from Recent Celebrity News

Recent news in the celebrity world has turned the nation's attention one more time to intimate partner violence, a social problem that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention killed 1,544 people in 2004; 75% of them were women and 25% were men. Almost one in four women in the United States reports abuse by a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or partner at some point in life.

What Is Intimate Partner Violence or IPV?
It is threat or abuse that occurs between two people in a close intimate relationship, and includes current and former spouses and dating partners.

What Counts As Abuse?
Psychological and Emotional Abuse includes threats, intimidation, put-downs, telling a person's secrets, stalking, isolating a person from friends and family, destroying a person's belongings, name calling, insults, public humiliation, yelling etc.

Physical Abuse is when there are threats or harm by slapping, hitting, shoving, grabbing, shaking, hair-pulling, biting, burning, throwing objects at a person, etc.

Sexual Abuse ranges from sexual advances that make a person feel uncomfortable to sexual behavior that is unwanted or coerced, including insisting, physically or verbally, that a person have sex even though they have said "no."

Abuse of Male Privilege: Behavior that assumes that males have more power than females and that they have special rights and privileges in relationships with women. It involves also beliefs that women are men's property.

Often, IPV starts as emotional abuse and progresses to physical or sexual abuse and in some cases, different types of abuse may occur at the same time. Victims are more likely to be women and those between 20 and 24 years old; most of the abuse occurs at home.

What Impact can IPV have on Survivors?
The effects vary according to the frequency and intensity of the abuse and may include:

Physical: includes physical injuries from scratches and bruises to head trauma and internal bleeding; disability, and, in severe cases, death.

Psychological: includes depression, suicidal behavior in females, anxiety, and low self-esteem and the need for mental health services.

Social: includes antisocial behavior, inability to trust people and especially men, fear of relationships, and isolation from family and friends.

Health: for women the impact may include greater risk of having stroke, heart disease, asthma; of engaging in health risky behaviors such as heavy drinking, smoking, and in risky sexual behavior such unprotected sex, and of having sexually transmitted diseases, and miscarriages.

Economic: include increased costs related to medical and psychological care, loss of wages and productivity due to absences from work, and increased reliance on public services and assistance.

Why do Victims Stay in Abusive Relationships? Because of…

• Lack of personal income
• Low potential for finding a job
• Fear of losing social support from the partner/abuser
• Fear of retaliation for leaving
• Having children to care for and support
• Fear of the alternatives: being alone, not being able to find a new partner
• Loss of an emotional investment: time, energy, home environment, etc.
• Pressure from social or religious networks to stay in the relationship
• Difficulty holding the abuser accountable for their abusive actions (making excuses)

There Are Also Consequences for Children Exposed to IPV
Exposure to IPV will affect children differently according to their age, availability of support and help, and how they have or have not learned to cope with stress. Children will learn and remember more than adults think they will do. Often, children exposed to IPV may,

• Be also injured because in 42 to 60% of child abuse cases there is also IPV in the family;
• Feel angry about violence and chaos in their lives and may act out;
• Be confused because of conflicting feelings toward the parents;
• Feel responsible for the abuse and powerlessness for not stopping it;
• Have a dilemma about being loyal to one parent against the other;
• Be afraid of being abandoned by one or both parents and lose trust and safety in their caregivers;
• Be embarrassed by chaotic and dysfunctional family life;
• Develop post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms such as depression, bed-wetting and nightmares
• Learn that violence and abuse are legitimate ways to resolve conflicts and problems;
• Increase their risk of engaging in violent acts, of being a bully, and an abuser when they are older.

What Can You Do to Prevent Being Abused?

Pay attention to the early warning signs! If your partner,

• Teases you and makes you feel worthless;
• Tries to control what you do and who you see;
• Goes into a rage when disappointed or frustrated, teasing, tripping or pushing, threatening to injure you, etc;
• Stalks you, follows you, and calls you constantly;
• Uses emotional blackmail to force you into having sex ("If you loved me, you would…"):
• Expects that you will be available all of the time, acting macho around his friends by saying things like "This is my woman!"

What You Can Do If You Are Being Abused:

• Tell a trusted person what is happening, and ask for help.
• If you are in immediate danger, call the police.
• Establish a code word with a trusted person that can be used if you call when in danger but afraid of saying so.
• Create a safety plan that includes a safe place to go if you are in danger.
• Work on establishing financial independence from your abuser.
• Keep extra cash, identification, important paper work, medication, and other necessary items at a neutral location that you can access if you need to leave a situation on short notice.
• Consider obtaining a protective order against the abuser.
• Contact your state psychological association via Web site for an appropriate referral for professional counseling.
• Protect your children from the abuser.
• Also consider the following resources:
  • National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (1-800-787-3224 TDD) http://www.ndvh.org/
  • National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1.800.656.HOPE
  • Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network: http://www.rainn.org/
  • Men Can Stop Rape: http://www.mencanstoprape.org/index.htm

References

American Psychological Association. (1997). Love doesn't have to hurt teens. [Brochure.] Washington, DC: Author.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. (2006). Understanding intimate partner violence. [Factsheet]. Atlanta, GA: Author.

Browne, A., & Brown, L. S. (1997). Violence at home: Partner violence: What can you do? [Brochure]. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Gordon, K. C., Burton, S., & Porter, L. (2004). Predicting the intentions of women in domestic violence shelters to return to partners: Does forgiveness play a role? Journal of Family Psychology, 18(2), 331-338.

Mitchell, K. J., & Finkelhor, D. (2001). Risk of crime victimization among youth exposed to domestic violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 16, 944-964.

Stover, C. S. (2005). Domestic violence research: What have we learned and where do we go from here? Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20(4), 448-454.